莳萝蒿 shi luo hao

Artemisia anethifolia Weber ex Stechmann var. anethoides (Mattfeld) Pampanini; A. zhaodongensis G. Y. Chang & M. Y. Liou.

Herbs, annual or biennial, 30-60(-90) cm tall, gray pubescent. Basal and lowermost stem leaves: leaf blade ovate or elliptic-ovate, 3-4(-5) × 2-4 cm, 3(or 4)-pinnatisect; lobules filiform or linear-lanceolate. Middle stem leaves: leaf blade ovate or broadly ovate in outline, 2-4 × 1-3 cm, 2- or 3-pinnatisect; segments (1 or)2 or 3 pairs; lobules filiform, 2-5 × 0.3-0.5 mm. Uppermost leaves and leaflike bracts 3-lobed or entire. Synflorescence a narrow panicle, to 15 × 3 cm, most nodes producing racemes or flowering branches to form a broad compound panicle. Capitula many, pedunculate, bracteolate, nodding. Involucre subglobose, 1.5-2(-2.5) mm in diam.; phyllaries and receptacle densely pubescent. Marginal female florets 3-6. Disk florets 8-16, bisexual. Achenes obovoid. Fl. and fr. Jul-Oct.

Hills, slopes, saline soils, sand banks of rivers and lakes, roadsides, wastelands, steppes, semidesert steppes, desert forests; low elevations to 3300 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, N Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, N Shandong, Shanxi, N Sichuan, Xinjiang [Mongolia, Russia].

Artemisia anethoides is used for feeding livestock.