''Artemisia arborescens'', the tree wormwood, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of flowering plant in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

region. It is an erect

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

, with masses of finely-divided aromatic silvery-white leaves and single-sided sprays of yellow daisy-like flowers. This plant is cultivated for its foliage effects, but in colder

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

regions it requires the protection of a wall. The specific epithet ''arborescens'' means "woody" or "tree-like". This plant and the

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

'Powis Castle' have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit. 'Powis Castle' is relatively compact, and unlike typical ''A. arborescens'', it rarely flowers. It has a strong sweet smell, quite different from that of ''A. arborescens''. It has been suggested to be a hybrid between ''A. arborescens'' and ''A. absinthium'', but is probably a form from the Middle East where ''arborescems'' and ''absinthium'' appear to intergrade. The original source is unknown, but British gardener Jim Hancock took a cutting of a plant that he found growing during a garden visit in Yorkshire c1968, and took it to

Powis Castle Powis Castle ( cy, Castell Powys) is a British medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys. The seat of the Herbert family, Earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the fo ...

when he became Head Gardener there in 1972. It was later named from that garden, propagated and sold to promote the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

gardens. This plant, like others of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

'' Artemisia'', yields essential oils which have historically been used for various medicinal purposes, and its pharmacological properties are under investigation. It also has culinary uses, including as a substitute for or supplement to

spearmint Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...

Maghrebi mint tea Maghrebi mint tea (Maghrebi Arabic: , ''atay''; ar, الشاي بالنعناع, aš-šhāy bin-na'nā'; ), also known as Moroccan mint tea and Algerian mint tea, is a North African green tea prepared with spearmint leaves and sugar. It is ...

during the winter (when mint is out of season), imparting a bitter flavor.

Gallery

File:Artemisia arborescens in the first week of june 2000..jpg, File:Artemisia arborescens in north western Sardinia..jpg

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q309692 Arborescens Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Lebanon and Syria Flora of North Africa Flora of Southeastern Europe Flora of Southwestern Europe