Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Green in Winter: Beach Wormwood

Artemisia caudata is common and abundant in dry sand, and while native, it is generally unloved and overlooked. A biennial or short-lived perennial, it produces an attractive rosette the first year, then sends up a tall, leafy flowering stalk after that. The flowers are not showy, and this is possibly why the plant is so often overlooked. It's really an attractive plant and I hope to demonstrate this with a photo set this summer. Beach Wormwood is a common host to the parasitic Orobanche fascicularis, so remember to watch the sand around the base of the plant!
Photographed in Porter County, Indiana on February 4, 2012.

1 comment:

  1. COOL! I saw this plant along with Phlox pilosa and Viola pedata in north central Indiana last year.

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