What's the difference between Artemisia absinthium and Mugwort
Artemisia absinthium and Mugwort are the same plant and the same herb. The biggest difference between them is the height and foliage form. Artemisia is a bit lower in height and has a thinner main stem with a dark reddish color. Wormwood's main stem is slightly thicker and longer, the stem is light green, the root near the ground is slightly lignified (harder), some up to 1.5 cm in diameter, and the height is between 80 and 250 cm.
From leaf morphology alone. Artemisia leaves are usually thin, whitish in color on the adaxial side, there will be a layer of white fuzz, soft and smooth, the blade is small, the serration pattern around it is deep, and the whole blade is narrow and elongated.
While the surface of mugwort is five gray-green, white downy hairs on the back, the leaf surface looks fat, the leaf blade is wider compared to artemisia, the serrations around the leaf blade is also much smaller, the back of the densely covered with gray-white spidery dense downy hairs.
Another way to tell the difference is by smell, but because both plants are scented, it's harder to tell the difference unless you're a particularly experienced person.
The scent of Artemisia is on the lighter side, and some even have a slight grassy odor. The taste of mugwort, on the other hand, is slightly pungent cool oil flavor, belonging to the "heavy taste" type."
Mugwort is a good food, and among the traditional foods of southern China, there is a kind of mochi made with mugwort as the main ingredient. Fresh mugwort and glutinous rice flour around the time of the Qingming Festival are used in a one-to-two ratio and mixed together, wrapped with fillings such as peanuts, sesame seeds and sugar, and then steamed. In Guangdong's Dongjiang Valley, locals pick fresh mugwort leaves and buds in winter and spring to eat as vegetables. The Hakka people of Ganzhou have the custom of collecting mugwort to make Ai Miguo at the beginning of spring. The shape of Ai Miguo is somewhat similar to dumplings, but it is larger and filled with stuffing, which is delicious and can be used as a staple food. Is also the same kind of medicine, wormwood on the uterine cold has a better conditioning and treatment effect. Patients suffering from uterine cold clinically commonly used mugwort leaf soup or mugwort warming pills for conditioning and treatment, while there is also a certain role of mosquito repellent.