CULTIVARS : 'Lambrook Silver1 'Variegata'. VARIETY : nana.

MEDICINAL USES

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS : leaves in lemon scented aromatic grouping.Volatile oil contains absinthol EFFECT : stimulant, detergent, antiseptic, emmenagouge. Improves digestion & liver function, encourages mestrual flow, stimulates uterus, lowers fever, relaxes spasms, destroys intestinal worms, stimulates hair growth. APPLICATION : internally for delayed or painful 1 menstruation, poor appetite & digestion, thread worms in children, hair loss. Externally for frostbite, splinters, sciatica pains, swellings.

HISTORICAL MEDICINAL USES

Walafrid Strabo, monk of St. Gall, 9thC : "Cures fevers & wounds."
Turner, 1551 : "It is good for them that shake or shudder with colde, sodden in oyle & layde to upon the bodye. Some hold that layde under a mannes bolster, provoketh men to multiplyinge."
Lyte, 1578 : "Pline writeth that if it be layde under the bedde pillow or bolster it provoketh carnell copulation & resisteth all enchantments." Used for abortions, open womens vaginas.

Culpepper 17thC : "Dioscorides saith the seed bruised, heated in warm water for cramps or convulsions of sinews or sciatica. Same in wine driveth away serpents & venemous creatures. The oil annointed on the backbone prevents fits of agues. It taketh away the imflammation of the eyes. Boiled in barley meal it taketh away pimples. The seed & dried herb kill worms in children. The bruised herb help draw splinters. The ashes dry up & heal old ulcers, mingled with old salad oil helps those that are bald. A strong decoction for worms. Leaves for easing pain, dispersing swellings, crancrrene . Distilled water for diseases of the spleen. Also as a wound herb."

Used to induce sleep, dried leaves placed in muslin bags beneath the pillow or pounded with sugar into a paste 3x a day. In baths & poultices to treat skin conditions. Early last centuary a bunch of it was placed at the side of a prisoner to prevent jail fever.
1930's : whole herb, in august. Use : tonic, emmenagouge, anthelmintic, antiseptic, deobstruent. Infusion loz to pint boiling water, cover.

EDIBLE USES

Used in herbal tea mixtures. Used to flavour cakes pastries & puddings in France & Italy. Added to salads. Used as a substitute for A. absinthium in Vermouth & liquers. Tolerates close grazing of sheep & deer in winter Rodents eat bark in winter.

OTHER USES

In great demand in 18thC. Abercrombie, 1778 : "Sold readily in Covent Garden or Newgate markets the inhabitants buying them to place in their courtyards, balconies & windows." Used in pot pourris & nosegays. Placed among clothes to keep away moths. Rubbed in skin to deter flies. Branches dye wool a deep yellow. Used as ointment made with ashes used by country lads to grow their beards.

FOLKLORE

Spray of the plant presented by lovers. Women used to carry large bunches of it to church, often to make them stay awake, Thomas Hyll, 1568 : "No adder will come to gardens in which Wormwood, Mugwort & Southerwood grow."

INFO LINKS FOR Artemisia abrotanum

Wikipedia (UK)
Plants For a Future (UK)
Rowan Remedies (UK)
Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages (AUS)
Global Info Hub for Int. Medicine (MAL)
Int. Jour. of Pharmacog. & Phytochem. Research (AU)
Forestry Service (USA)