4 September 2024
Final weekend I seen this group of tall vegetation in Schenley Park with a distinctly Christmas tree form, proven above. They aren’t lovely, they’re actually weeds, and they’re thriving in a spot the place deer have eaten all of the non-poisonous native vegetation. These are both toxic or unpalatable.
I took a closeup of the leaves and requested Image This to establish it: Candy wormwood (Artemisia annua), native to temperate Asia.
Vegetation within the Artemisia genus style bitter and their crushed foliage and stems have a robust odor. Deer discover it extraordinarily unpalatable and may inform from far-off that it smells too ugly to method.
Vegetation within the Artemisia genus usually have medicinal properties. Candy wormwood (A. annua) accommodates artemisinin which was found in 1972 and is used to deal with malaria. Sadly the malarial parasite in Southeast Asia has developed artemisinin resistance so the drug can not be used alone to treatment the illness.
Candy wormwood’s shut relative widespread mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) additionally has a big selection of supposed pharmacological makes use of. These makes use of most likely account for the plant’s presence in North America. The Pittsburgh space has loads of it!
Another excuse why candy wormwood, particularly, could also be thriving this yr is that mature vegetation are pretty drought resistant — and we’re in a drought.
Drought and deer this summer season have mixed to go away Pittsburgh with so many weeds.
