120 GENUS ARTEMISIA. 



perfectly glabrous even on the young branches (Chihuahua, Lumholtz 778). The open 

 panicle with elongated peduncles is generally found in plants from the Southwest, but 

 villous shoots are present only in the type material. Moreover, open panicles and long 

 peduncles (2 to 6 mm.) are found in northern material {Pammel 1277), while open panicles 

 are not at all infrequent in subspecies typica and glauca. Finally, Mexican material 

 (Pringle SO4) may show open panicles and short peduncles. It is therefore evident that 

 dracuncuUna can not be accorded specific rank, although it may be accepted as a south- 

 western subspecies based chiefly upon the form of the inflorescence, at the same time 

 admitting that similar inflorescences sometimes occur in other forms. 



ECOLOGY. 

 Artemisia dracunculus is a perennial herb with a stout rootstock, blooming in late 

 summer and autumn, as do practically all the species. It is a typical society of the grass- 

 land formation during late summer and autumn, but it is much more abundant toward the 

 north and in the foothill and montane regions. It is most characteristic of the true and 

 mixed prairies, but is also important in the bunch-grass and subclimax ones, though rare 

 or lacking in the desert plains. While it increases somewhat under grazing, it is eaten in 

 sufficient quantity to prevent its becoming a particular indicator of overgrazing. It 

 sometimes indicates disturbance of the soil, but is much less frequent in this role than 

 either A. campestris or A. frigida. It is often associated with one or both of these, and 

 also with A. v. gnaphalodes. 



USES. 



This species is extensively browsed by sheep after frost, especially in the western 

 mountains. Although the foliage is too scant to give it a high value as compared with 

 some of the sagebrushes, the dragon sagewort, or smooth sageweed, as it is sometimes 

 called on the range, is one of the principal forage weeds for sheep in late autumn and 

 winter. 



The plant is cultivated to some extent in Europe under the name of tarragon, or estra- 

 gon, and its leaves are there used for seasoning salads and cooked dishes. Presumably 

 only the aromatic forms are employed for this purpose. The leaves are used in the fresh 

 state, or they may be cut and dried in the autumn for use afterwards. It is also utilized 

 in the manufacture of a variety of vinegar known as estragonessig. The plants are easily 

 grown from divisions of the root or from cuttings and do best in warm, rather dry situa- 

 tions. In some parts of California, especially in the Tehachapi region, the plant is 

 known locally as Indian hair tonic and is said to be used to stimulate the growth of the 

 hair. The pollen, which is smooth and 3-lobed, sometimes causes severe cases of hay- 

 fever in western North America. Its importance as a causative factor is not so great 

 as that of certain other species, such as vulgaris and tridentata, chiefly because it seldom 

 occurs in quantity near cities. 



21. ARTEMISIA CAMPESTRIS Linnaeus, Sp. Pi. 846, 1753. Plates 14, 15. Field 



Sagewort. 



A biennial or perennial herb, 1 to 6 dm. high, scarcely odorous; stems usually several, 

 or solitary in the short-lived forms, erect or ascending, often from a decumbent base, 

 striate, glabrous or slightly pubescent (rather densely villous in one variety), more or less 

 tinged with red; basal leaves crowded, petioled, 2 to 10 cm. long including the petiole, 

 0.7 to 4 cm. wide, 2- to 3-pinnately or only 1- to 2-ternately divided into linear or linear- 

 filiform (rarely linear-oblanceolate) divisions, these rarely more than 1 mm. wide, 

 appressed silky or villous to glabrous; upper leaves smaller, once or twice divided into 3 

 to 7 lobes, the uppermost often ternate or simple, densely pubescent to nearly glabrous; 

 inflorescence an elongated panicle with raceme-like or spike-like branches, these leafy 



