Mugwort

I get lots of questions about where to find certain PEI plants, but three species top the list: Common Elderberry, Serviceberry, and today’s subject: Mugwort (aka Common Wormwood Artemisia vulgaris).

Unlike Elderberry and Serviceberry, Mugwort is not native to PEI. It was brought to North America as a culinary and medicinal plant in the 1600s and has been well-established on the Island since at least the mid-1800s.

Mugwort is a perennial that spreads primarily by rhizomes but can also reproduce by seed. A single plant may produce more than 100,000 tiny seeds that are dispersed not only by wind, but also by hitch-hiking on shoes, car tires, or trains. As a result, Mugwort is very common along roadsides, trails, and rail lines (including the Confederation Trail). Once you know what to look for, you can easily spot Mugwort, even while driving at highway speed!

By the time it flowers in July, Mugwort is often as much as 150 cm (five feet) tall (main photo). Up close, you’ll see it has reddish stems with lobed leaves that are green on top but covered in white hairs underneath (top right photo). Flowers are tiny – just a few millimetres (about 1/8 inch) across – and have no petals; at peak flowering, you can see the yellow thread-like female pistils surrounded by brownish male anthers (bottom right photo).

Mugwort is edible, but strongly flavoured and scented, making it better as an herb than a dish on its own (hint: it’s in the same genus as Tarragon). It was used to flavour and preserve ale prior to the widespread use of Hops, but this plant’s main claims to fame are its medicinal uses, dating back thousands of years.

Mugwort was known as ‘mater herbarium’ – mother of herbs – for the many benefits attributed to it. For example, it was used externally to treat wounds and rashes; taken as a tea to ease colds, fevers, childbirth, urinary tract issues, and menstrual pain; used eliminate internal parasites (hence the name Wormwood); burned to purify areas and drive away evil; and smoked to relieve headaches and induce sleep.

Over the past couple of decades, research has confirmed Mugwort as having antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, antispasmodic, and insecticidal properties, as well as the ability to lower cholesterol, open airways, and relieve pain. Mugwort is the subject of active research and, while the studies have been lab-based to date, there may be clinical trials in the future.

Mugwort is not native, but is a well-established and widespread member of PEI Untamed!