Artemisia absinthiumL.

absinthiumwormwood

WFO wfo-0000134589 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Artemisia absinthium, photographed by Anastasia_Surkova
fig. a Anastasia_Surkova, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-12 / obs. 205899172
Artemisia absinthium, photographed by Carol Ann Vermeer
fig. b Carol Ann Vermeer, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204860336
Artemisia absinthium, photographed by Anastasia_Surkova
fig. c Anastasia_Surkova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204191823
Artemisia absinthium, photographed by Anastasia_Surkova
fig. d Anastasia_Surkova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204187658
Artemisia absinthium, photographed by Марина Садыкова
fig. e Марина Садыкова, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203259357
Artemisia absinthium, photographed by Grzegorz Grzejszczak
fig. f Grzegorz Grzejszczak, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 203794430
Artemisia absinthium, photographed by Yann Kemper
fig. g Yann Kemper, CC0 1.0 / obs. 202751322
Artemisia absinthium, photographed by Yann Kemper
fig. h Yann Kemper, CC0 1.0 / obs. 202748434

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 56 botanical countries

Regions where Artemisia absinthium is native: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Western Sahara, Afghanistan, Altay, Buryatiya, China Southeast, Iran, Iraq, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaEgyptLibyaMoroccoWestern SaharaAfghanistanAltayBuryatiyaChina SoutheastIranIraqIrkutskKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanWest SiberiaPakistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine
Native distribution of Artemisia absinthium, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Germany GER
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Iceland ICE
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Buryatiya BRY
China Southeast CHS
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Egypt EGY
Libya LBY
Morocco MOR
Western Sahara WSA
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
West Himalaya WHM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 235 in flower of 1,015 examined

Peak flowering in Aug. Each bar is the share of Artemisia absinthium observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 235 of 1,015 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 15 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Absinthium bipedale Gilib.
  • Absinthium majus Garsault
  • Absinthium officinale Brot.
  • Artemisia absinthia St.-Lag.
  • Artemisia absinthium var. absinthium
  • Artemisia absinthium var. insipida Stechm.
  • Artemisia arborescens f. rehan (Chiov.) Chiov.
  • Artemisia arborescens var. cupaniana Chiov.
  • Artemisia baldaccii Degen
  • Artemisia doonense Royle
  • Artemisia inodora Mill.
  • Artemisia kulbadica Boiss. & Buhse
  • Artemisia pendula Salisb.
  • Artemisia rehan Chiov.
  • Artemisia rhaetica Brügger

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.