maximum content for volatile oil, Chenopodium and Ascaridol. Seed harvest alone is by a selected method.
WORMWOOD
Artemisia absinthium, L.( N. O.: Compositae)
Common Names: Absinth, Ajenio, Old Women. Features: Wormwood is native to Eurasia and has been introduced into North America, where it occurs as a casual weed in waste places in the northern United States and southern Canada. Michigan, Wisconsin and Oregon grow this herb commercially. There are various other species of Artemisia, Common wormwood, Sea wormwood and Roman wormwood, similar in appearance but different in properties. A. absinthium, of the compositae family, is a perennial, commonly 2 – 4 ft. tall, with clustered stems and silvery-grey herbage. The leaf blades are up to about 4 in. long and are divided into numerous blunt or rounded small segments, the basal leaves being long-stalked and larger than those of the stem. The numerous flower heads, which are scattered along branches that have reduced leaves, are small, yellowish and individually rather inconspicuous, being hardly ¼ in. wide, flowering from June to September. Odour aromatic; taste very bitter. It yields what is known to druggists as absinthine.
WORMWOOD Artemisia absinthium, L. 1— Flower head; 2— Flower head vertical section; 3— Single flower( Vishaya Schkolla, Moscow, 1963)
Medicinal Parts: The tops and leaves. Solvents: Diluted alcohol, water( partially). Bodily Influence: Tonic, Stomachic, Stimulant, Febrifuge, Anthelmintic, Narcotic. Uses: Without a doubt Wormwood ranks first for conditions of enfeebled digestion and debility. Often melancholy is due to liver inactivity and it is impious for a good man to be sad. A small amount of Wormwood daily will decrease the yellowness of the skin, revealing the improvement of the gallbladder.
This herb is used for the following diseases: intermittent fever, jaundice, worms, want of appetite, amenorrhoea, chronic leucorrhoea, diabetes, obstinate diarrhoea, swelling of the tonsils and quinsy. Travellers who are much troubled with indigestion and nausea should never forget to take with them as a faithful companion their little bottle of Wormwood, in tincture form mixed with enough alcohol