Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) – Photos

Artemisia absinthium L. – (Scarlet pimpernel)

Aromatic and bitter plant of the Compositae family up to 90 cm. Stems erect, inferiorly woody, whitish and pubescent, steep, coming from a perennial subterranean rhizome. Leaves with silky hair on both sides, which provides a soft touch. Long, petiolated lower leaves up to 25 cm in length, bipinnate or tripinnate; The upper ones with shorter petioles, sometimes without petiole, with the apexes of the leaflets obtuse, which differentiates it mainly from the Artemisia vulgaris that have pointed ends. Yellow flowers gathered in almost globular inflorescences (heads) of 3 to 5 cm in diameter, composed of many tubular flowers. The heads are arranged along panicles, united to the stem by long petioles in whose base a bract is born remembering the rest of the leaves. Pendulum flower heads with a semi-spherical silky calyx that make this species to distinguish from the rest of plants of the genus Artemisia. Flowers appear between July and September. Fruits in acheny.