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Artemisia abrotanum ((Asteraceae)

The name Artemisia clearly derives from that of Artemis, the Greek Goddess of hunting. It is known as a first name: who else comes to mind, but Artemisia Gentileschi, the remarkable seventeenth century Florentine and Neapolitan painter?

Here though we deal with plants, not with paintings of the Baroque. The Artemisia genus is remarkable for hundreds of species. One of them, Artemisia dracunculus, is used not in preparing absinthe — this is Artemisia absinthium —, but provides tarragon an herb with a distinctive aroma. It was featured in this very series a dozen years ago.

A. abrotanum, also known as southernwood, is likewise an aromatic herb, with a delightful smell: is it more citrusy, lemony, tangerine- or camphor-like? Is it more of a sister or of a cousin to lavender, the lovely plant mankind has elected for centuries to make perfumes from and to scent our laundry and bedding, and for protecting them from various pests?

A. abrotanum is native to Central Asia—in particular Armenia, Iran and Russia, and also to Asia Minor—Turkey and Europe, including Albania and Croatia. It also occurs in Central and North-Western Europe.

What then are some uses of southernwood, and what does it look like? The latter first: the leaves, very small, are the main source of the aroma. It is a shrub with a height of 0.6–1.5 m (2-5 ft). This species grows upright with soft twigs. The younger are blue-green, the older are brown.

Stems are highly branched with dense foliage. The bluish-green leaves show many covering hairs on the upper side, but their underside is smooth. The tiny yellow tubular flowers are gathered in spherical or ovoid-spherical hanging heads that form panicles.

Uses? As already hinted at, dried leaves are used to keep moths away from wardrobes. The strong, sharp, scent is distasteful to moths and other insects. The pungent, scented leaves and flowers are used traditionally in herbal teas. In European traditional medicine these help digestive difficulties: herbal infusions assist digestion, increase appetite, can serve also as an
astringent in diarrhea. They are used also against anorexia, and flatulence. They were recommended for liver conditions such as atony, contractile states of the bile ducts and stagnation or insufficient bile secretion.

Another traditional use needs mention: in church services attendance, people brought in small bouquets. They relied on the herb’s sharp scent to keep them awake during long sermons; for instance in Sweden, during services in the Lutheran church on Sundays. This custom of the church bouquet endured since the Reformation in the sixteenth century and survived until the late nineteenth century, when major changes took place due to
industrialisation, modernisation, secularisation and urbanisation.

Nevertheless, the plant still exists in many gardens on the countryside throughout Sweden as a cultural relic and reminiscence plant.

Published inPlants