Artemisia ludoviciana subsp. incompta

(Nuttall) D. D. Keck

Publ. Carnegie Inst. Wash. 520: 327. 1940.

Common names: Mountain wormwood
Basionym: Artemisia incompta Nuttall Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 400. 1841
Synonyms: Artemisia arachnoidea E. Sheldon Artemisia atomifera Piper Artemisia lindleyana Besser Artemisia ludoviciana var. incompta (Nuttall) Cronquist Artemisia prescottiana Linnaeus Artemisia vulgaris var. incompta (Nuttall) H. St. John
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 19. Treatment on page 529. Mentioned on page 527.

Stems 20–50(–80) cm, mostly simple, hairy. Leaves bicolor (white and green, or gray-green and green); blades narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 1.5–11 × 1–1.5 cm, irregularly lobed (lobes usually 1/3+ blade widths), faces hairy (abaxial) or glabrous or glabrescent. Heads in paniculiform arrays (10–)15–25(–35) × (2–)3–8(–10) cm. Involucres (broadly campanulate) 3(–4) × 3(–5) mm. Florets: pistillate 5–12; bisexual 6–45; corollas yellow, sometimes red-tinged, 1.5–2 mm. 2n = 36, 54.


Phenology: Flowering mid summer–late fall.
Habitat: Open meadows, mountain slopes
Elevation: 1900–3500 m

Distribution

V19-912-distribution-map.gif

Alta., B.C., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., Oreg., Utah, Wash., Wyo., Mexico.

Discussion

Subspecies incompta varies. It could be (and has been) subdivided. The variation found within one population, as well as from one part of its range to another, makes the recognition of discrete taxa difficult as well as questionable. The morphologic variant treated as Artemisia lindleyana by some authors may warrant infraspecific status.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
Leila M. Shultz +
(Nuttall) D. D. Keck +
Artemisia incompta +
Mountain wormwood +
Alta. +, B.C. +, Calif. +, Colo. +, Idaho +, Mont. +, Nev. +, Oreg. +, Utah +, Wash. +, Wyo. +  and Mexico. +
1900–3500 m +
Open meadows, mountain slopes +
Flowering mid summer–late fall. +
Publ. Carnegie Inst. Wash. +
Illustrated +
Artemisia arachnoidea +, Artemisia atomifera +, Artemisia lindleyana +, Artemisia ludoviciana var. incompta +, Artemisia prescottiana +  and Artemisia vulgaris var. incompta +
Artemisia ludoviciana subsp. incompta +
Artemisia ludoviciana +
subspecies +