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Artemisia cina
Also called Levant Wormseed, Levant Wormwood, Santonica Wormwood, Wormseed
Artemisia cina is a species of Asian herbaceous perennial subshrub in the daisy family, grown mainly for its dried flowerheads, which are the source of santonin. It is a plant of dry, sunny, temperate steppe conditions and is not a common garden or houseplant.
Artemisia cina, commonly known as santonica, Levant wormseed, and wormseed, is an Asian species of herbaceous perennial in the daisy family. Its dried flowerheads are the source of the vermifugic drug santonin since ancient times. Its common names arise from its known ability to expel worms. The powder is grayish-green in colour with an aromatic odour and a bitter taste. Dysphania ambrosioides is another plant with the common name wormseed, called epazote in Mexican cuisine.
The plant is characterised by its spherical pollen grains, which are typical in the Asteraceae; a fibrous layer on anthers; lignified, elongated, hypodermal sclerids; and clusters of calcium oxalate crystals.
In addition to santonin, the above-ground parts of the plant contain betaine, choline, tannins, pigments, and an essential oil. The essential oil is largely composed of 1,8-cineole, but contains a wide variety of other compounds as well. Cineole takes its name in part from the specific name, cina.
Southernwood · Absinthium · African Wormwood · White Mugwort · Aleutian wormwood · Artemisia alpina · Sweet sagewort · Hedge Artemisia · Little sagebrush · Artemisia arenaria · Chinese Mugwort · Austrian Mugwort
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Artemisia cina by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
