Artemisia scoparia

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Seeds, Flowers, Spice

Edible Parts: Leaves Edible Uses: Young leaves - cooked.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It does best in a neutral soil in a warm sunny position. They do well in poor dry soil. Once the plants are established they are drought tolerant. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Asia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Balkans, Belarus, Bulgaria, Caucasus, Central Asia, China, Czech, Estonia, Europe, Georgia, Germany, Himalayas, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mediterranean, Middle East, Moldova, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, Siberia, Singapore, Slovakia, Syria, Tajikistan, Tibet, Turkey, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Yugoslavia,

How to Identify

A herb. A plant which grows over two years. It has a woody base and several branches. It grows 40-80 cm high. The lower leaves are 4-7 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. They are divided into narrow segments.

How to Grow

Easily grown in a well-drained circumneutral or slightly alkaline loamy soil, preferring a warm sunny dry position. Established plants are drought tolerant. Plants are longer lived, more hardy and more aromatic when they are grown in a poor dry soil. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.

Propagation: Seed - sow late spring in a cold frame. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.

Medicinal Uses

Antibacterial Anticholesterolemic Antipyretic Antiseptic Cholagogue Diuretic Vasodilator The plant is anticholesterolemic, antipyretic, antiseptic, cholagogue, diuretic and vasodilator. It has an antibacterial action, inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, streptococci, Bacillus dysenteriae, B. typhi, B. subtilis, Pneumococci, C. diphtheriae, mycobacterium etc. It is used in the treatment of jaundice, hepatitis and inflammation of the gall bladder. The plant is also used in a mixture with other herbs as a cholagogue.

Other Uses

Essential The seed and flowering stems contain 0.75% essential oil. Special Uses Scented Plants

Artemisia scoparia is a Eurasian species in the genus Artemisia, in the sunflower family. It is widespread across much of Eurasia from France to Japan, including China, India, Russia, Germany, Poland, central + southwest Asia, etc. The English common name of Artemisia scoparia is virgate wormwood, capillary wormwood, or redstem wormwood. In Mandarin Chinese it is known as yīn chén (Traditional: 茵陳) and it is an important traditional Chinese medicine, and is considered interchangeable with Artemisia capillaris for that purpose. Its pollen can be allergenic.

Notes

There are about 300 Artemisia species.

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