Description

• Asteracea
• Eurasia : from South-East Europe to West China
• Height 2m x Width 0.5m
• Z6-Z9
• Annual
• Synonyms : Sweet Sagewort, Annual Mugwort, Chinese Wormwood, Artemisia chamomilla, Sweet Wormwood, Sweet Annie, Annual Wormwood
  
• 1 packet of 50 seeds, harvest of the year

Details

Artemisia (derived from the name Artemis, Olympian goddess) is a botanical genus of Eurasian origin containing more than 500 species, some of which are common in Western Europe (among the best known: Absinthe, Tarragon, Genépi).

Sweet Sagewort is a fast growing herbaceous plant with tender leaves, fresh green in color, very indented, and extremely aromatic (camphoric, fresh, resinous aromas, with a touch of acidity).
During Summer, Annual Mugwort branches out in its upper part and produces light inflorescences gathering many small, yellow-green pompom-like flower heads.
The tiny seeds (achenes) ripen in the Fall.

Artemisia annua is used as :

1. Flavoring (fresh leaf)
2. Source of a refreshing essential oil used in perfumery
3. Incense
4. Medicinal plant (mainly the dry leaf, for infusions, compresses, and moxas - Artemisia chamomilla is a plant of the Traditional : European Pharmacopoeia and Chinese Medicine)

The medicinal properties of Annual Mugwort are linked to several active ingredients, including Artemisinin, which gives it its Antimalarial and Antiviral properties.
Chinese Absinthe is :

• Antibacterial (Lyme disease)
• Anticancer
• Antifungal
• Antiparasitic (Vermifuge - Ascaris, Tapeworms; Antimalarial - Malaria, other plasmodiums; intestinal protozoa - Giardia, Amoeba)
• Antipyretic (Febrifuge)
• Antiseptic
• Antiviral (CoViD-19, SARS, HIV)
• Digestive
• Healing
• Mucolytic
• Regulatory (digestive disorders, periods, bleeding)
• Stimulating
• Tonic

Its leaves are harvested in Summer, just before the plant blooms, and dried in the shade.
They are used later as herbal tea (internal use), or applied locally as compresses on infected wounds, skin infections, boils etc (external use).

WARNING ! Medicinal use is not recommended for :

• pregnant women
• children
• epileptic patients and persons with a neurological condition

Cultivation

Sow Annual Wormwood in spring in pots by pressing a few seeds on a damp soil.
Keep moist, exposed to the sun, sheltered.

After germination, select the most vigorous plant per pot.
Cultivate a few weeks until the plants can be transplanted outside, after the last frosts.

Choose a sunny position, sheltered from the winds.
The type of soil does not matter, but the plant will grow better if the soil is fertilized and stays fresh in Summer.

CAUTION : Artemisia annua is an invasive plant !
Control seed dispersal by preventing seed production (cutting plants when harvesting leaves) or place the upper part of the plant in a bag.