Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris L.)

 

Mugwort: Leaves front and back side, flowers

Used plant part

Leaves, best cut immediately before flowering.

Plant family

Asteraceae (sunflower family, also known as aster family), subfamily Asteroidae.

Sensoric quality

Aromatic and bitter. See also fenugreek on the topic of bitter spices.

Main constituents

Mugwort (flower cluster)

The essential oil (0.03 to 0.3%) contains a wealth of different terpenes and terpene derivatives, e.g., 1,8 cineol, camphor, linalool, thujone, 4-terpineole, borneol, alpha-cardinol and further mono- and sesquiterpenes. Quantitative and qualitative composition varies strongly with soil, climate, fertilizing and harvest time.

Thujon, one of the oil's main constituents, is a monoterpenoid ketone also appearing in sage; it is commonly hold responsible for the toxicity of absinthe (see southernwood).

Origin

Temperate Europe and Asia.

Etymology

The genus is named in honour of the Greek goddess of hunting, Ártemis, to whom some members of the genus were sacred.

English "mugwort" contains an element mu- meaning "fly, bug"; cf. Greek myía, Russian moska and German Mücke "mosquito". The Indo-European stem, MU-, is obviously onomatopoetic in origin. Folk-etymologically, the first element in mugwort is often assumed to refer to the herb's use in beer-brewing ("mug of beer"; see also gale for notes on brewing).

The second element in "mugwort" is an old term for "plant" (Old English wyrt "plant", "root") found in many other Germanic languages: German Wurzel "root" (formerly also "plant"), Swedish ört, Gothic waúrts. Less closely related are Greek rhádamnos "branch", Latin radix "root" and Old Irish fren "root", which all derive from an Indo-European root WRD. For further etymological connections, see horseradish.

Swedish malört "moth plant" for the closely related wormwood (see southernwood) is a similar formation; allegedly, mugwort's or wormwood's smell drives away moths from clothes.

The German, Beifuß name derived from the Middle High German verb bivuoz "beat", but the connection is unclear; according to one theory some kind of squeezing the leaves for food preparation is indicated, according to another, the name refers to some apotrophaeic quality of the plant (it "beats or drives away" evil powers).
Like the closely related southernwood, mugwort is only occasionally used as a spice. Its slightly bitter taste fits best to fat fish or meat (it is sometimes suggested for goose or mutton); occasionally, it is eaten raw as a salad.