COMPOSITAE — THISTLE FAMILY — WORMWOOD 791 



Fig. 453. Artemisia. Sage Brush. Absinthe and Wormwood belong to this genius.. 

 (After Faguet). 



perfect and fertile with branches of the style truncate or sometimes sterile 

 with ovaries abortive; styles undivided; marginal flowers usually pistillate and' 

 fertile, or flowers all perfect and fertile in some species; anthers often tipped 

 with subulate appendages; achenes obovoid and no pappus. 



About 200 species, mostly native of the northern hemisphere. A few in 

 southern South America. The oil of Levant wormseed (A. maritima var. 

 Stechmanniana) contains the substance cineol. Santonin C^.H^jO, is the 

 active principle found in the flowers of A. cana. The A. maritima contains^ 

 artemisin Cj^H^gO^. Absinthe is furnished by Artemisia absinthium of Eu- 

 rope. The A. Barrelieri furnishes the Algerian absinthe. Several species of 

 sagebrush {Artemisia tridentata and A. cana) are common in the west and 

 much used as forage for sheep. The alkaloid abrotanin C^jH^gN^O is ob- 

 tained from A. Abrotanum. 



Artemisia biennis Willd. Wormwood 

 An aromatic, somewhat bitter, smooth annual or biennial, from 1-3 feet 

 high, with leafy stems and erect branches ; lower leaves twice pinnately parted, 

 the upper pinnatifid; the lobes linear or linear-oblong, serrate or cut-toothed; 

 ray flowers absent; heads numerous in short axillary spikes; the bracts of the 

 involucre green, scarious, margined. 



