Common mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, is a species in the Asteraceae (sunflower) family. It is one of many species (2-400)[1] in the Artemisia genus, commonly referred to as mugwort.
It is also sometimes called St. John’s plant, old man, naughty man, sailor’s tobacco, old Uncle Henry, wild wormwood, chrysanthemum weed, criminal weed, or river wormwood. Mugwort is native to temperate areas of North America, North Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Mugwort is a large perennial herbaceous plant 1 to 2 meters tall (rarely 2.5 meters) with a vast rhizomeWhat is rhizome?An underground stem, with nodes and short to elongate internodes. system. The leaves are 5 to 20 cm long, sessile, pinnate, and dark green, with dense, white, plush hairs on the underside.
The upright stems are grooved and sometimes have a reddish-purple tint. The relatively small florets (5 mm long) are radially symmetrical with numerous dark red or yellow petals.