Artemisia suksdorfii

Coastal mugwort

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Coastal mugwort is a California native perennial found in northern coastal California and southern Channel Islands in coastal drainages and roadsides at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces small, subtle flower heads in dense panicle-like clusters with straw-colored to yellow-green phyllaries. Growing with many erect brown stems 50 to 200 centimeters tall emerging from a rhizome, it forms extensive clonal patches. Its leaves are distinctively lanceolate, 5 to 10 centimeters long, coarsely and irregularly lobed, dark green on top and white-tomentose underneath. The plant produces tiny fruits less than 0.8 millimeters long, creating delicate seed clusters along its branching stems.

Habitat: Coastal drainages, roadsides

Bloom period: Generally Jun-Sep

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: NCo, s ChI

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.