''Artemisia palmeri'' is a rare species of

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an alph ...

known by the common names San Diego sagewort and Palmer sagewort.Calflora taxon report, University of California, ''Artemisia palmeri'' A. Gray San Diego sage, San Diego sagewort
/ref> Flora of North America Vol. 19, 20 and 21 Page 531, Palmer sagewort, ''Artemisia palmeri'' A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts. 11: 79. 1876.
/ref>

Distribution

The plant is native to northwestern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

and southwestern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, primarily in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

.Calflora: Distribution map.
/ref> Its natural habitat is sandy coastal ravines in the

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is w ...

plant community and

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

riverbeds in the

Cuyamaca Mountains The Cuyamaca Mountains ( Kumeyaay: ''‘Ekwiiyemak''), locally the Cuyamacas, are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges System, in San Diego County, southern California. The mountain range runs roughly northwest to southeast. The Laguna Mount ...

and other

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, which ...

, below in elevation. Most of this habitat has been destroyed as the land has been developed for human uses. It is occasionally found farther inland in

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

plant communities near Redlands and in the

San Emigdio Mountains The San Emigdio Mountains are a part of the Transverse Ranges in Southern California, extending from Interstate 5 at Lebec and Gorman on the east to Highway 33–166 on the west. They link the Tehachapis and Temblor Range and form the southern ...

. It is listed on the

California Native Plant Society The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a California environmental non-profit organization (501(c)3) that seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve it for future generations. The mission of CNPS is to con ...

Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

, due to the threat of further habitat loss.

Description

''Artemisia palmeri'' is a perennial or biennial herb producing brittle erect or spreading stems tall.Jepson: ''Artemisia palmeri''
/ref> The base is woody.Lady Bird Wildflower Center, University of Texas
/ref> The gray-green aromatic foliage is made up of long, narrow leaves deeply cut into several narrow, pointed lobes. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

contains clusters of

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

containing pale yellow glandular disc florets. It blooms generally from June to October. The fruit is a tiny

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

about a millimeter long.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Artemisia palmeri'' (San diego sagewort)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Artemisia palmeri''
* palmeri Flora of Baja California Flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of San Diego County, California Plants described in 1876 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{asteroideae-stub