Wormwood

wormwood Artemisia spp, herbs of a dark reputation as a source of the drink absinth, production of which has been banned since 1915 in France, its homeland.

There are three species: A. absinthium, the common wormwood of Europe and W. and C. Asia, and introduced to N. America; A. pontica, the more delicate ‘Roman wormwood’ of SE Europe and W. Asia; and A. maritima, a smaller plant which grows typically in salt marshes and coastal regions from W. Europe to Siberia. The first two yield oil of wormwood, a bitter substance containing toxins, and it was from the first species that absinth, notorious for its bitter and toxic content, was distilled.