Serrate-leaved sage

Artemisia vulgaris Linnaeus subsp. serrata (Nuttall) H. M. Hall & Clements

Perennials, 50–100(–300) cm (not cespitose), pleasantly aromatic (fibrous-rooted, rhizomes horizontal, relatively short). Stems 2–5, erect, brown, mostly simple (bases woody), sparsely tomentose. Leaves cauline, bicolor (white and green); blades lanceolate, 7–15 × 1–2.5 cm, serrate (teeth ca. 2 mm), faces densely tomentose (abaxial) or glabrate (adaxial). Heads (peduncles 0 or to 2 mm) in racemiform arrays 10–15 × 5–15 cm. Involucres campanulate, 2.5–3 × 2–2.5 mm. Phyllaries lanceolate (margins hyaline), densely tomentose. Florets: pistillate 3–5; bisexual 9–10; corollas pale yellow, 1.5–2 mm, sparsely glandular. Cypselae ellipsoid, ca. 1 mm, glabrous. 2n = 36.

Flowering mid summer–early fall. Grasslands and barren areas on high plains; 500–1800 m; Ill., Iowa, Minn., N.Y., N.Dak., Wis.

Artemisia serrata is closely related to A. ludoviciana and A. longifolia; it is distinguished by its prominent, serrated leaf margins. It is apparently native to the upper Mississippi Valley and naturalized in New York, presumably following introduction as a garden plant. Reports from Kansas and Missouri may be based on collections of A. ludoviciana.