species are used for flavoring. Hopi Indians flavor sweet corn by roasting leaves of 

 A. fr-tgida along with the corn (Kearney and Peebles 1960) . In Europe, A. absinthium 

 and A. havveHevi are used in preparation of the alcoholic beverages, absinthe 

 and Algerian absinthe, respectively. Vermouth derives from a German appelation for 

 wormwood. Tarragon {A. dracunaulus) is used to flavor vinegar and as seasoning. Sil- 

 very foliage, interesting leaf patterns, and pleasant odor make several species popular 

 as ornamentals. One of the most attractive ornamental shrubs is the California native, 

 A. pyonooephala. An Old World introduction, A. stelleriana, is the "Dusty Miller" of 

 our gardens. Oldman wormwood (A. ahTotanum) has had long usage as an ornamental hedge 

 shrub (Sampson and Jesperson 1963) . More recently, A. cauoasica has been introduced to 

 this country and is finding use as an attractive prostrate border plant. 



Classically, Artemisia has been taxonomically divided into four sections or sub- 

 genera {Abvotanvmi Ahsinthivm, Draounoulus, and Seriphidium) . These sections are 

 recognized primarily on the basis of flower characteristics--absence or presence and 

 fertility or infertility of disc and ray flowers (see McArthur and Plummer 1978; and 

 McArthur 1979 for review). We prefer to recognize the four sections: Avtenrlsia, 

 Bvacunoulus , Seviphidiim, and Tvidentatae (table 1). In this scheme, Abrotanum and 

 Absinthium are combined to form Artemisia (Polyakov 1961). This union seems natural 

 because the original separation was based only on the difference in hairiness of the 

 floral receptacle. Tridentatae was recognized as being separate from Seriphidiim on 

 the basis of disjunct present and past distribution patterns, different basic karyo- 

 types, and chemotaxonomic differences (McArthur and Plummer 1978) . 



Table 1 . --Taxonomic sections of Artemisia 



Classical 



Modern 

 sections^ 



Distinguishing 

 characteristics 



Distribution 



Species mentioned 

 in this paper 



Absinthium 



Abrotanum 



Dracunculus 



Artemisia 



Seriphidium 



Dracunculus 



Scriphid ium 



rridcnt:itae 



Pistillate ray flowers, 

 perfect disc flowers; 

 predominantly herbaceous 

 but a few are woody. 



Pistillate ray flowers, 

 staminato disc flowers; 

 herbaceous and woodv. 



Ray flowers lacking, 

 perfect disc flowers; 

 horlniceous and woodv. 



Ray flowers lucking,^ 

 perfect disc flowers; 

 woodv . 



Eurasia , 

 North Africa, 

 North America. 



Huras ia , 

 .North America. 



liurasia , 

 .North Africa ' 



North America 



A. 



abrotanum 



A. 



absinthium 



A. 



aalifomiaa 



A. 



aauoasiaa 



A. 



frigida 



A. 



ludoviaiana 



A. 



mexioana 



A. 



stelleriana 



A. 



vulgaris 



A. 



dracunculus 



A. 



f Hi folia 



A. 



pedatifida 



A. 



pijanocephala 



A. 



spinesaens 



A. 



barrelieri 



A. 



oina 



A. 



herba-alba 



A. 



maritima 



A. 



arbusaula 



A. 



argilosa 



A. 



bigelovii 



A. 



aana 



A. 



longiloba 



A. 



nova 



A. 



pygmaea 



A. 



rigida 



A. 



rothroakii 



A. 



tridentata 



A. 



tripartita 



MioCandollc 1.S.S7, Hooker 18-U), McArtlmr and I'lumiiicr 1978, McArthur 1979. 



''Rydbcrg I'.lld, Hectic lyfat), Polyakova 19()1, McArtluir and Pluiimicr 1978, McArthur 1979. 



^Tlie single exception, A. bigelovii, has 0-2 pistillate ray flowers on otherwise discoid heads. 



■'Two anomalous American species have been referred to Seriphidium: A. palmeri of southern and Baja California and 

 A. mcndozana from Argentina. 



5 



