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PLANTS FURNISHING MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS. 4] 
WORMWOOD. 
Artemisia absinthium IL. 
Synonym.—Artemisia vulgaris Lam. 
Other common names.—Absinthium, absinth, madderwort, mingwort, old-woman, 
warmot, mugwort. 
Habitat and range.—Wormwood, naturalized from Europe and mostly escaped from 
gardens in this country, is 
found in waste places and 
along roadsides from New- 
foundland to New York 
and westward. It is occa- 
sionally cultivated. 
Description.—This shrub- 
bya aroma tice.) much 
branched perennial of the 
aster family (Asteracee) is 
from 2 to 4 feet in height, 
hoary, the young shoots 
silvery white with fine 
silky hairs. The grayish- 
green leaves are from 2 to5 
inches long, the lower long- 
stalked ones two to three 
times divided into leaflets 
with lance-shaped lobes, 
the upper leaves gradually 
becoming more simple and 
stemless and borne on short 
stems and the uppermost 
linear with unbroken mar- 
gins. The flower clusters, 
appearing from July to Oc- 
tober, consist of numerous 
small, insignificant, droop- 
ing, flat-globular, yellow 
heads. (Fig. 33.) 
Collection, prices, and 
uses.—When the plant is in flower the leaves and flowering tops are collected. 
These were official in the United States Pharmacopeeia for 1890. The price paid for 
wormwood is about 4 cents a pound. Wormwood has an aromatic odor and an ex- 
ceedingly bitter taste, and is used as a tonic, stomachic, stimulant, against fevers, 
and for expelling worms. 
An oil is obtained from wormwood by distillation which is the main ingredient in the 
dangerous liqueur known as absinth, long a popular drink in France, in which country, 
however, the use of the oil is now prohibited except by pharmacists in making up 
prescriptions. 
219 
Fie. 33.—Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), leaves and flowers. 
