Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

California mugwort is a native aromatic perennial herb that thrives along streambanks and disturbed slopes across western North America. Its leaves are strikingly two-toned — deep green on top and coated with dense silvery-white hairs beneath — a trait long used by Native Californians who rubbed the leaves on skin to repel insects.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Artemisia
Species: Artemisia douglasiana