Wormwood was @SpeciesofUK from 30th
September to 13th October, 2013.
Wormwood is a herbaceous plant known for its medicinal uses and powerful
essential oils.
It’s famous as one of the main constituent herbs in the spirit Absinthe.
Wormwood is from the genus Artemisia.
Artemisia contains somewhere
between 200 and 400 species, known for the bitterness of all parts of the plant.[1] Artemisia is part of the larger daisy family, Asteraceae.[2]
Artemisia species are called by
the common names 'mugworts,' 'wormwoods,' and 'sagebrushes.'[3]
Alongside common wormwood, the other Artemisia
species you’ll find growing wild in the UK are Sea Wormwood, Field Wormwood and
Mugwort.[4] Tarragon is also commonly
grown here but is not native.[5]
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| Mugwort [Source: Flickr Creative Commons © Brigitte Rieser] |
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| Tarragon [Source: Flickr Creative Commons © Jasmine&Roses] |
The genus Artemisia is named
for the Greek goddess Artemis, who was said to have given its over to Chiron
the Centaur.[6]
According to the 5th-century Herbarium of Apuleius, "Chiron the Centaur
...named these worts from the name of Diana, Artemis, that is Artemisias.”[7]
The species name of wormwood, absinthium,
comes from the Greek word ‘absinthion’ meaning ‘undrinkable,’ reflecting its
very bitter taste.[8]
Wormwood is a plant of muted but
silky-looking colours.
Wormwood has a perennial fibrous root and branched, erect, grooved,
leafy stems. The flowering stem is around 1m high, whitish, with fine silky hairs.[9]
The leaves are about three inches long and are cut deeply and repeatedly
into narrow, blunt segments. Around the flowerheads, they are reduced to three
or even just one segment.[10]
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| Wormwood Leave [Source: Flickr Creative Commons © the weed one] |
The leaves are greenish-grey above and white below.[11] They bear many silky trichomes (hairs) which give them that silvery look.[12]
The leaves of wormwood are aromatic and contain many tiny oil-producing
glands.[13]
The flowers bloom from July to October. Pollination is by wind.[14] Wormwood flowers are
small, tubular, pendulous and greenish-yellow.
 |
| Wormwood Flowers [Source: Flickr Creative Commons © ekenitr] |
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| Wormwood Flowers [Source: Flickr Creative Commons © Matt Lavin] |
Wormwood is from Europe but has
colonised America.
Wormwood is native to Europe and western Asia. The Spanish brought it to
Mexico where it started to grow wild and it's now found in both North and South
America.[15]
Interestingly, after arriving in Mexico, wormwood established itself in
Aztec religious practice. It is associated with Tlaloc, the god of water and
rain.[16] The Aztecs used wormwood
to remedy illnesses involving ‘too much water’ in the body such as epilepsy,
gout and leprosy.[17]
If grown in a garden, wormwood should be given good drainage and
excellent sun, although it can cope in poor soil.[18] It should be dead-headed
to prevent self-seeding and then cut to the base in autumn.[19]
The main commercial source of wormwood today is Eastern Europe.[20]
Wormwood is known to stimulate
appetite.
Wormwood leaves and flowers are very bitter. However, the root has a
warm and aromatic taste.[21]
Extracts from wormwood are occasionally used as food additives such as
seasonings for food and drinks.[22] In the Middle Ages,
wormwood was used to spice mead. In 18th century, it was used instead of hops
in beer.[23]
Wormwood can stimulate appetite. A hot water infusion of wormwood can be
taken before meals or as a chololagogue after the meal.[24] It works because the
bitter taste in the mouth triggers the release of bile from the gallbladder and
other secretions from intestinal glands, which enables us to digest food.[25]
Modern advice is that small amounts of wormwood are safe to consume
provided they are thujone-free. Thujone can cause a range of nasty side
effects.[26]
Do check up-to-date professional medical information if you’re not sure.
In the US, wormwood may be used in foods in quantities of up to 0.024%
provided the extract is thujone free.[27]
Wormwood also has a long history of use
in medicine.
Historically, wormwood has been used as an antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory,
antiseptic, and a remedy for poisoning by hemlock.[28] According
to the Ancients, wormwood counteracted the effects of poisoning by hemlock,
toadstools and the biting of the seadragon.[29]
Later, wormwood was laid among furs and in bedchambers to keep away
moths and insects.[30] Thomas Tusser, writing in
1557, said: "What saver is better (if physick be true) / For places infected
than Wormwood and Rue?"[31]
Wormwood is still used in herbal remedies but its modern medical
properties are unproven, although it does show promise as an antioxidant,
antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-malarial.[32]
Despite the lack of medical evidence you can find wormwood used today in
herbal remedies for various digestion problems such upset stomach, gall bladder
disease, and intestinal spasms. Wormwood is also used to treat fever, liver
disease, and worm infections; to increase sexual desire; as a tonic; and to
stimulate sweating.[33]
Some people apply wormwood directly to the skin for healing wounds and
insect bites. Wormwood oil is used as a counterirritant to reduce pain.[34]
In manufacturing, wormwood oil is used as a fragrance component in
soaps, cosmetics, and perfumes. It is also used as an insecticide.[35]
Wormwood is one of the three main
constituent herbs of the spirit Absinthe, alongside green anise and sweet
fennel.[36]
Absinthe was an extremely popular drink in nineteenth-century France,
especially among Parisian artists. The painter Vincent Van Gogh produced some
of his masterpieces under the influence of absinthe.[37]
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| 'The Drinkers' by Vincent van Gogh [Source Flickr Creative Commons © erik.aldrich] |
Due to its association with bohemian life, absinthe become seen as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug. It was banned in the USA and most of Europe by 1915.[38]
But the facts about absinthe are not so straightforward. Thujone, from
wormwood, is dangerous and does appear in absinthe, but only in trace amounts.
It is highly unlikely that thujone in absinthe had any serious effects.[39] It’s more likely that
people taking absinthe just got drunk!
Since the 1990s absinthe has been revived. Modern producers emphasise
its supposed psychoactive properties in their imagery help market it as an ‘edgy’
spirit.[40]
Strange but true…
Wormwood
appears frequently in the bible. The reason is that the King James Bible
compilers translated the Hebrew word ‘la'anah’ as ‘wormwood.’
In reality ‘la'anah’ could refer to various bitter plants or substances, but
wormwood stuck.[41]
Here are some instances where it appears.
Proverbs 5:4. "But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a
two-edged sword."
Lamentations 3:15. "He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made
me drunken with wormwood."
Jeremiah 9:15. "Behold, I will feed them, this people, with
wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink."
Revelation 8:11. "And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and
the third part of the waters became wormwood."
[1] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_(genus)
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_(genus)
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_(genus)
[4] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom
[5] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom
[6] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom
[7] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_absinthium
[8] http://www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/atoz/artemisia_absinthium.htm
[9] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_absinthium
[10] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_absinthium
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_absinthium
[12] http://www.finegardening.com/plantguide/artemisia-absinthium-absinth-wormwood.aspx
[13] http://www.finegardening.com/plantguide/artemisia-absinthium-absinth-wormwood.aspx
[14] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_absinthium
[15] http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Artemisia%20Absinthium%20.html
[16] http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Artemisia%20Absinthium%20.html
[17] http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Artemisia%20Absinthium%20.html
[18] http://www.finegardening.com/plantguide/artemisia-absinthium-absinth-wormwood.aspx
[19] http://www.finegardening.com/plantguide/artemisia-absinthium-absinth-wormwood.aspx
[20] http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Artemisia%20Absinthium%20.html
[21] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom
[22] http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Artemisia%20Absinthium%20.html
[23] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_absinthium
[24] http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Artemisia%20Absinthium%20.html
[25] http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/natural-medicine/herbal-remedies/wormwood-herbal-remedies.htm
[26] http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-729-WORMWOOD.aspx?activeIngredientId=729&activeIngredientName=WORMWOOD
[27] http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Artemisia%20Absinthium%20.html
[28] http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Artemisia%20Absinthium%20.html
[29] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom
[30] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom
[31] http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html#worcom
[32] http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Artemisia%20Absinthium%20.html
[33] http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-729-WORMWOOD.aspx?activeIngredientId=729&activeIngredientName=WORMWOOD
[34] http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-729-WORMWOOD.aspx?activeIngredientId=729&activeIngredientName=WORMWOOD
[35] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_absinthium
[36] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe
[37] http://www.bu.edu/bhlp/Clinical/cross-cultural/herbal_index/herbs/Artemisia%20Absinthium%20.html
[38] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe
[39] http://www.thepoisongarden.co.uk/blog/blog250512.htm
[40] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe
[41] http://www.erowid.org/plants/wormwood/wormwood_bits.shtml
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