Wormwood

Artemisia absinthium

Asteraceae

The bitter of absinthe — a powerful digestive bitter whose essential oil is a neurotoxin in excess.

Legal garden plant. Thujone content in absinthe and oils is capped by food law in the US and EU.

Parts used: Aerial parts
Traditional notes: Bitter appetite prompt · Cold, stagnant digestion · Historical anthelmintic
Grow · USDA 6b: Perennial, USDA 4–8 Cuttings or seed. A dry border plant. In work: May · Jun · Jul · Aug
Harvest: Tops just as flowers form.

Poor, dry, sunny ground. It looks silver because it is drought furniture.
A little goes a long way. This is a bitter, not a pot of tea.
Cut back in spring. Woody bases get sparse if you never prune.

Safety

Pregnancy Seizure disorder Prolonged internal use Essential-oil ingestion

Lore

Absinthium. The bitterness that defined absinthe, and the plant that made temperance leagues see green fairies. Thujone is the controversial molecule; the larger truth is that a silver Artemisia is a stomach bitter, not a personality.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.