Wormwood

Also known as Absinthe and Green Ginger.

From the family Asteraceae.

A native of Asia and Europe, including Britain, it was introduced into America as a cultivated plant and is now naturalized in many places. Artemisia was the sister and wife of King Mausolus and ruled after his death in 353BC. She was also a botanist and researcher and this genus of 200 plants was named for her. Legend has it that as the serpent slithered out of Eden, Wormwood sprang up in the impressions on the ground left by its tail. In the ancient Greek text of Dioscorides, it is mentioned for its internal worm-expelling property. The Chinese still use a leaf of Wormwood rolled up in the nostril to stop nosebleeds. Many artemisias are visually appealing; their silver leaves are stunning when reflected in moonlight. Although it is one of the most bitter herbs known, it has for centuries been a major ingredient of aperitifs and herb wines. It was hung by the door where it kept away evil spirits and deterred night-time visitations by goblins. It was also made a constituent of ink to stop mice eating old letters. And it was also used as a strewing herb to prevent fleas.

Pick flowering tops just as they begin to open. Pick leaves for drying in summer.

Powder or infuse to make a moth repellent. Deter onion and carrot fly with branches laid between rows. Infuse to make a strong domestic disinfectant. Grow near cabbages to deter cabbage butterflies and near fruit trees to deter fruit tree moth. Can produce a yellow dye.