Artemisia vulgaris
FAMILY: Asteraceae (Compositae)
SYNONYMS: Armoise, wild wormwood, felon herb, St John’s plant.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: An erect, much-branched, perennial herb up to 1.5 metres high, with purplish stems, dark green divided leaves which are downy white beneath, and numerous small reddish-brown or yellow flowers.
DISTRIBUTION: Believed to have originated in eastern Europe and western Asia; now found in temperate zones all over the world. The oil is produced in southern France, Morocco, Germany, Hungary, India, China and Japan.
OTHER SPECIES: There are many different species in the Artemisia group (see Botanical Classification), which includes wormwood and tarragon. There are also several different types of mugwort such as the great mugwort (A. arborescens) and the Chinese mugwort (A. moxa and A. sinensis) which are both used to make ‘moxa’ in Japan, containing mainly borneol.
HERBAL/FOLK TRADITION: In Europe, the herb has been associated with superstition and witchcraft, and was seen as a protective charm against evil and danger. It is said that St John the Baptist wore a girdle of the leaves in the wilderness. It was also seen as a woman’s plant, used as a womb tonic, for painful or delayed menstruation and as a treatment for hysteria and epilepsy. It was also used to expel worms, control fever and as a digestive remedy.
In the East the white fluffy underside of the leaves is used for moxibustion, a process often combined with acupuncture, in which the compressed dried herb is burned over a certain point in the body to stimulate it with heat. Moxa was also used in Europe to relieve gout and rheumatism. It is current in the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia as a specific for amenorrhoea and dysmenorrhoea.
ACTIONS: Anthelmintic, antispasmodic, carminative, choleretic, diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, nervine, orexigenic, stimulant, stomachic, tonic (uterine, womb), vermifuge.
EXTRACTION: Essential oil by steam distillation from the leaves and flowering tops.
CHARACTERISTICS: A colourless or pale yellow liquid with a powerful camphoraceous, bitter-sweet, herbaceous odour. It blends well with oakmoss, patchouli, rosemary, lavandin, pine, sage, clary sage and cedarwood.
PRINCIPAL CONSTITUENTS: Thujone, cineol, pinenes and dihydromatricaria ester, among others.
SAFETY DATA: Oral toxin, due to high thujone content. Abortifacient.
AROMATHERAPY/HOME: USE None. ‘It should not be used in therapy either internally or externally.’.
OTHER USES: Used as a fragrance component in soaps, colognes and perfumes. Limited use in flavouring due to toxic levels of thujone.... mugwort
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