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Artemisia ludoviciana

Common name:	White Sage	Family:	Compositae
Author:	Nutt.	Botanical references:	43, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	There is a report that the plant can cause allergies in some people[222].
Range:	Western N. America - Michigan to Washington, south to Texas and Mexico.
Habitat:	Prairies, dry open soils and thin woodland[43].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	A. albula[H] A. canescens[H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Estafiate [S], Louisiana Sagewort [FEIS,P], Western Mugwort [H,L], White Sage [L], White Sagebrush [B],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Mexico(Kickapoo) Us(Flathead)
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1m by 1m . It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from August to October, and the seeds ripen from September to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds, Ground Cover.

Edible Uses

Condiment Seed Tea.

Leaves and flowering heads are used as a flavouring or garnish for sauces, gravies etc[183].
A herb tea is made from the leaves and flowering heads[183].
Seed[105, 161, 177, 183]. No further details are given but the seed is very small and fiddly to use.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent Poultice Skin.

The leaves are astringent[222]. They were commonly used by the N. American Indians to induce sweating, curb pain and diarrhoea[222]. A weak tea was used in the treatment of stomach ache and menstrual disorders[222].
Externally, a wash of the leaves was applied to itching, rashes, swellings, boils, sores, etc[222]. The wash was also applied to eczema and as an underarm deodorant[257]. A poultice of the leaves can be applied to spider bites, blisters and burst boils[257].
A snuff of the crushed leaves has been used to treat headaches, the sinuses and nosebleeds[257].

Other Uses

Deodorant Ground cover Repellent.

The plant makes a useful ground cover plant once it is established[190].
The leaves can be placed in the shoes as a foot deodorant[257]. An infusion of the leaves has been used as an underarm deodorant[257].
The soft leaves can be used as a toilet paper[257].
The plant can be burnt to repel mosquitoes[257].

Cultivation details

Easily grown in a well-drained circumneutral or slightly alkaline loamy soil, preferring a sunny position[1, 200]. Does well in a sandy soil[188]. Established plants are very drought tolerant[190]. Plants are longer lived, more hardy and more aromatic when they are grown in a poor dry soil[245].
A very polymorphic species[43].
Slugs love the young shoots of this plant and have been known to destroy even well-established plants[K].
A very ornamental plant, spreading by stolons to form loose patches[187], it can be invasive[190]. There are many named forms selected for their ornamental value[200].
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[233].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow from late winter to early summer in a greenhouse, making sure that the compost does not dry out[200]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant out in late spring or early summer.
Division in spring or autumn[200].
Basal cuttings in late spring. Harvest the young shoots when about10 - 15cm long, pot up in a lightly shaded position in a greenhouse or cold frame and plant them out when well rooted. Very easy.

Cultivars

'': There are some named forms for this species, but these have been developed for their ornamental value and not for their other uses. Unless you particularly require the special characteristics of any of these cultivars, we would generally recommend that you grow the natural species for its useful properties. We have, therefore, not listed the cultivars in this database[K].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] SW USA Dist. Maps from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[190] Chatto. B. The Dry Garden. Dent 1982 ISBN 0460045512
A good list of drought resistant plants with details on how to grow them.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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