Cudweed sagewort, also known as mugwort, a herbaceous perennial 

 from a woody or shrubby base, is one of the most common and 

 widely distributed of the herbaceous species of Artemisia. The spe- 

 cific name gnaphalodes means like Gnaphalium, and refers to the 

 resemblance of this plant's soft-wooly leaves to those of cudweed 

 (Gnaphalium). This species ranges from Ontario and Michigan to 

 Missouri, Texas, Mexico, California, British Columbia, and Sas- 

 katchewan, and has also become naturalized in Pennsylvania and at 

 various places along the Atlantic seaboard from Quebec to Delaware. 

 It is most common on the plains and prairies as a conspicuous com- 

 ponent of mixed grass- weed types, associated with fringed sagebrush, 

 false tarragon , needlegrasses, blue grama, and muhly grasses. 

 Throughout the West, this species grows typically in open grass- 

 weed types from the big sagebrush and pinon- juniper to the 

 ponderosa pine and aspen zones. 



In southeastern Montana, cudweed sagewort is common and fre- 

 quently abundant on open slopes and foothills mixed with grasses 

 and weeds at elevations of about 2,800 feet. In the Wasatch Moun- 

 tains of Utah, it has been found as high as 10,000 feet, in association 

 with alpine weeds. The species also grows freely on rocky, sandy, or 

 gravelly loams of open ridges, slopes, and mesas at moderate eleva- 

 tions, in association with wheatgrasses, mountain-dandelions, and 

 western yarrow. It usually grows as scattered individuals or in 

 small, distinctly matlike patches. However, on a few ranges, it be- 

 comes abundant and conspicuous, although seldom found in dense, 

 extensive stands. It prefers open, sun-drenched sites, but occasion- 

 ally grows in moderate shade. 



Although widely distributed, this species, because of inferior palat- 

 ability and general lack of abundance, usually does not have much 

 forage value, although occasionally grazed by cattle and sheep, as 

 well as by deer and elk. The palatability of this plant varies ap- 

 preciably in different sections, being highest in the South, and de- 

 creasing in the North. In Montana, where this plant is often 

 abundant, the palatability is rated as from worthless to fair for 

 sheep and worthless to poor for cattle; elk and deer eat but small 

 amounts of the leafage. On mixed grass-weed types at Mandan. 

 N. Dak., where cudweed sagewort occurs scatteringly, cattle nibble 

 the foliage, but with noticeably less relish than the grasses. 2 Farther 

 south, particularly in southern Utah and Colorado, and in New 

 Mexico, this species is sometimes a rather valuable forage, especially 

 on spring-fall and winter ranges, rating as fair or fairly good for 

 sheep, fair for cattle, and poor for deer and elk. 



Cudweed sagewort has been an important plant in the primitive 

 pharmacopoeia, as well as in the rituals and religious ceremonies of 

 some of the Indian tribes. 3 



2 Sarvis, J. T. EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS AND INTENSITIES OF GRAZING UPON THE 



NATIVE VEGETATION AT THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS FIELD STATION. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 



1170, 46 pp., illus. 1923. 



Gilmore, M. K. USES OF PLANTS BY THE INDIANS OF THE MISSOURI RIVER REGION. 

 U. S. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Kept. (1911-12) 33 : 45-154, illus. 1919. 



