This green plant from the daisy family (Asteraceae) originally comes from Asia. In the mountains of the northern Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan it is known as “Qinghao”. It has been cultivated there for centuries.
Today, however, sweet wormwood has also conquered other regions of our globe - the species can be found worldwide in many temperate, subtropical and tropical zones, including all of Asia, Europe and North Africa. It is not even deterred by the dry climate of deserts and semi-deserts and takes root there as well. It thrives best, however, on the Eurasian continent, where it can often be seen growing wild or in cultivation.
The Latin name “Artemisia annua” has its origin in Greek. “Artemis” is the highly revered goddess of the hunt, the moon and the forest, as well as the protector of children and women. As the name suggests, Artemisia annua is an annual plant. Thanks to their many essential oils, its finely serrated leaves give off an aromatic scent.
There are around 400 different species of wormwood and mugwort worldwide. The German name “Beifuß” (literally “by the foot”) comes from this: after marching for days, Roman soldiers rubbed their feet with mugwort plants to refresh them. Native to our region is above all common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), which was already highly valued by the Germanic peoples and used for traditional and ritual purposes. Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is also part of the Artemisia family. Because the leaves look distinctly different, it is not difficult to tell the various species apart.
