Artemisia scoparia Waldst. & Kit.

Mediterranean region (Alexandria) and Sinai (Sadd Rawaf'aa).

Central and eastern Europe, Egypt, southwest Asia, Siberia.

Annual.

Considered as a fodder for goats and a cure for pain in the ear. The smoke of twigs is considered good for burns and their infusion is given as a depurative.

Biennial or perennial, basally woody herb with solitary or several, branched in upper part, 40-80 (-90) cm tall, ± patulous hairy to mostly glabrous, purplish-brown tinged stems from upright branched rootstock. Basal and lower stem leaves with 1.5 cm long petiole, densely patulous hairy to almost glabrous, lamina ovate-orbicular, 4-7 x 2.5-5 cm, 2 (-3)-pinnatisect into linear or linear-lanceolate, 3-4 x 0.5-1 mm, acute segments; middle and upper stem leaves subsessile to sessile, auriculate, hairy or usually glabrous; uppermost in the floral region acicular with auricles. Capitula heterogamous, numerous, shortly pedunculate, oblong-globose, c. 2 x 1.5 mm, nodding in narrow to broadly pyramidate, 20-50 x 10-35 cm panicle with horizontally or ± obliquely patent or occasionally ± erect, 8-30 cm long primary and 2-8 cm long secondary branches. Receptacle conical, glabrous. Involucre 3-4-seriate, phyllaries glabrous, imbricate, outermost ovate-orbicular, c. 0.8 mm long, narrowly scarious margined, inner ones oblong-ovate, c. 1.25 x 0.8 mm, broadly hyaline scarious. Florets 10-12, yellow; marginal florets 5-6, fertile, with c. 0.7 mm long, tubular, 2-dentate corolla; disc-florets 5-6, functionally staminate, with c. 1.25 mm long, tubular, 5-toothed, glandular corolla. Cypselas oblong-oval, c. 0.8 mm long, brown.

Distribution: C & E Europe, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan (Balochistan, N. W. F. P., and Punjab), N. W. India, China, Mongolia, Russia.

Fl. Per.: July-November.

A very common plant growing in sandy-clay soils of arid desert tracts and low hills in stony ground wastelands, field borders and roadsides from 400 msl to 2200 msl after rainfall in the late summer months.

A. kohatica Klatt, Sitz. Ber. Math.-Phys. Cl. Acad. Wiss. Munchen 1878: 91. 1878; A. elegans Roxb., Hort. Beng. 61. 18; Fl. Ind. 3: 421. 1832.

Artemisia scoparia is a Eurasian species in the genus Artemisia, in the sunflower family. It is widespread across much of Eurasia from France to Japan, including China, India, Russia, Germany, Poland, central + southwest Asia, etc.

The English common name of Artemisia scoparia is virgate wormwood, capillary wormwood, or redstem wormwood. In Mandarin Chinese it is known as yīn chén (Traditional: 茵陳) and it is an important traditional Chinese medicine, and is considered interchangeable with Artemisia capillaris for that purpose. Its pollen can be allergenic.