WORMWOOD
Artemisia absinthium
COMMON NAMES: Absinth, ajenjo, old woman.
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 feet tall, with
clustered stems and silvery gray herbage. The leaf blades are up to about 4 inches 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 inches wide, flowering from June
to September. Odor, aromatic; taste, very bitter. It yields what is known to druggists as absinthin.
MEDICINAL PARTS: Tops, leaves.
SOLVENTS: Diluted alcohol, water (partial solvent).
BODILY INFLUENCE: Tonic, stomachic, stimulant, febrifuge, anthelmintic, narcotic.
USES: 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 intermittent fever, jaundice, worms, want of appetite, amenorrhea, chronic
leukorrhea, diabetes, obstinate diarrhea, swelling of the tonsils, and quinsy. Travelers who are much
troubled with indigestion and nausea should take with them as a faithful companion their little bottle of
wormwood in tincture form, mixed with enough alcohol to ensure that it will last as a traveling
companion for a long time.
CAUTION: Taken too strong and too often it will irritate the stomach and dangerously increase the action
of the heart and arteries. It can also result in intoxication and delirium.
DOSE: 1 teaspoonful of the tops and leaves, cut small or granulated, to 1 cupful of boiling water; take in
wineglassful amounts three or four times a day. Of the tincture, 5–30 drops three or four times a day,