Asteraceae

The family Asteraceae (Compositae, alternate name) with its approximately 1,620 genera and more than 23,600 species is the largest family of flowering plants. The family is distributed worldwide except for Antarctica but is especially diverse in the tropical and subtropical regions of North America, the Andes, eastern Brazil, southern Africa, the Mediterranean region, central Asia, and southwestern China. The majority of Asteraceae species are herbaceous, yet an important component of the family is constituted by shrubs or even trees occurring primarily in the tropical regions of North and South America, Africa and Madagascar and on isolated islands in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The family contains several species that are important sources of cooking oils, sweetening agents, and tea infusions. Members of several genera of the family are well-known for their horticultural value and are very popular in gardens across the world.

The Wormwoods are members of the great family of Compositae and belong to the genus Artemisia, a group consisting of 180 species, of which we have four growing wild in England, the Common Wormwood, Mugwort, Sea Wormwood and Field Wormwood.

The genus is named Artemisia from Artemis, the Greek name for Diana. In an early translation of the Herbarium of Apuleius we find:

'Of these worts that we name Artemisia, it is said that Diana did find them and delivered their powers and leechdom to Chiron the Centaur, who first from these Worts set forth a leechdom, and he named these worts from the name of Diana, Artemis, that is Artemisias.

Artemisia L. (Asteraceae), as broadly conceived by Linnaeus, is the largest genus in Tribe Anthemideae and  one of the largest in the family. Because of the abundance of wind -dispersed Artemisia pollen in the geological column, it is used as an indicator of steppe climates. Some members are foraged by ungulates, rodents, birds, and insects despite the production of sesquiterpenes that afford a bitter taste to the herbage. Many Artemisia species are a major cause of allergies in humans. All Artemisia species produce aromatic oils and several are culinary herbs or used as flavorings, hallucinogens, vermifuges, and pharmaceuticals (Lee and Geissman 1970) and some are toxic.

Wormwood is the common name for Artemisia absinthium, the plant whose aromatic oil is used to make absinthe. Although absinthe contains extracts from a whole variety of different plants, wormwood oil is the key ingredient of the famed green drink, and perhaps the reason why absinthe is quite unlike any other liquor ever produced.