Mugwort / Divlji pelin

Description:

It is a tall herbaceous perennial plant growing 1- 2 m (rarely 2.5 m) tall, with a woody root. The leaves are 5 - 20 cm long, dark green, pinnate, with dense white tomentose hairs on the underside. The erect stem often has a red-purplish tinge. The rather small flowers (5 mm long) are radially symmetrical with many yellow or dark red petals. The narrow and numerous capitula (flower heads) spread out in racemose panicles. It flowers from July to September.

Habitat:

It is native to temperate Europe, Asia, northern Africa and Alaska and is naturalized in North America, where some consider it an invasive weed. It is a very common plant growing on nitrogenous soils, like weedy and uncultivated areas, such as waste places and roadsides.

Notes:

It is easy to recognize it by its characteristic smell. Mugworts are used medicinally and as culinary herbs. Other names: common wormwood