White Mugwort

(Artemisia multellina Vill., Artemisia genipi Web., Compositae).

Description: Pretty undershrub or small plant with short or elongated rhizome bearing small rosettes of leaves and flowering shoots.
Leaves, 1-4cm (0-4-1-Sin) long, thin, silver-grey and hairy; digitately divided, the segments lanceolate or almost needle-like.
Flowering stem simple, 5-20cm (2-8 in) high, often tinted brownish-red, leafy; bearing oval capitula, 4-6mm (0.15-0.2in) in diameter, each containing 7-15 small yellow florets.
Flowering: July-September.
Amongst other alpine species, A. glacialis L. is also used.

Part Used: Dried flowering plant.

Habitat and Collection Grows almost always above the tree line between 2,200 and 3,200m (7,200-10,500ft) amongst rocks and stones.
Dried in the shade.
Cultivated from seeds of wild plants and harvested in the second year.
Not found in Britain.

Constituents and Action: Volatile oil, bitter principle.
Action is similar to that of wormwood; it is slightly less bitter and hence a little less efficacious.
It stimulates gastric secretion.

Usage: In medicine it may be replaced by wormwood, which is better for sluggish digestion and stomach disturbances.
In principle it should not be used as a drug except in regions where it is abundant.