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Artemisia abrotanum, the southernwood, lad's love, or southern wormwood, is a species of flowering plant in the sunflower family. It is native to Eurasia[2] and Africa but naturalized in scattered locations in North America.[3][4] Other common names include: old man, boy's love, oldman wormwood, lover's plant, appleringie, garderobe, Our Lord's wood, maid's ruin, garden sagebrush, European sage, sitherwood and lemon plant.
| Artemisia abrotanum | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Artemisia |
| Species: | A. abrotanum
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| Binomial name | |
| Artemisia abrotanum L. 1753 not Thunb. 1784
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Southernwood has a strong camphor-like odour and was historically used as an air freshener or strewing herb. It forms a small bushy shrub, which is widely cultivated by gardeners. The grey-green leaves are small, narrow and feathery. The small flowers are yellow. It can easily be propagated by cuttings, or by division of the roots.
This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[5]
Uses
editA yellow dye can be extracted from the branches of the plant, for use with wool. Its dried leaves are used to keep moths away from wardrobes. The volatile oil in the leaves is responsible for the strong, sharp, scent which repels moths and other insects. It was customary to lay sprays of the herb amongst clothes, or hang them in closets, and this is the origin of one of the southernwood's French names, "garderobe" ("clothes-preserver"). Judges carried posies of southernwood and rue to protect themselves from prisoners' contagious diseases, and some church-goers relied on the herb's sharp scent to keep them awake during long sermons.[6]
The pungent, scented leaves and flowers are used in herbal teas. Young shoots were used to flavor pastries and puddings. In Italy, it is used as a culinary herb.
In the traditional medicine of East and North Bosnia and Herzegovina, aerial parts of Artemisia abrotanum are used in jaundice therapy.[7]
Aqueous extracts of the Southernwood have been proven to have benefits to all layers of the skin. Two studies were done to see if southernwood did have the positive benefits, one on dryness in lower legs and the other on multiple factors on in the facial regions[8]. The first study they applied this extract to one leg and placebo to the other leg twice a day for two weeks. Moisturization was measured by Skicon and TEWL was measured as well. The results showed that there was a significant decrease in TEWL in the panelists with the extract compared to the panelists with placebo. The second study, patients with coarse wrinkling in the crows feet and upper cheek areas, and also moderate pigmentation. Once again patients applied the extract to one side of the face and placebo to the other. The facial treatment of southernwood showed improvements of fine lines, mottled pigmentation and radiance when compared to the placebo treatment. Also the treatment showed significant improvements in overall photodamage to the facial region[8].
A poem by Edward Thomas (1878 – 1917) concerns the herb: "Old Man or Lad's Love".[9]
In the Chinese book of rites they mentioned it in sacrifices.[10]
Toxicity
editIn 2012, the European Food Safety Authority reported that all the aerial parts of Artemisia abrotanum contain substances that can be toxic to humans, due to the presence in the essential oil of bicyclic monoterpenes and phenylpropanoids.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Artemisia abrotanum". The Global Compositae Checklist (GCC) – via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
- ^ Altervista Flora Italiana, Abrotano, Artemisia abrotanum L. includes photos + European distribution map
- ^ "Artemisia abrotanum in Flora of North America". Efloras.org. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- ^ "Distribution map" (PNG). Bonap.net. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- ^ "RHS Plant Selector Artemisia abrotanum AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
- ^ Alice Morse Earle (1851-1911), The Sabbath in Puritan New England, chapter 4.
- ^ Tewari D, Mocan A, Parvanov ED, Sah AN, Nabavi SM, Huminiecki L, Ma ZF, Lee YY, Horbańczuk JO, Atanasov AG. Ethnopharmacological Approaches for Therapy of Jaundice: Part I. Front Pharmacol. 2017, August 15; doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00518.
- ^ a b 9622(10)01197-7/abstract "Clinical benefits of topical application of artemisia abrotanum (southernwood) on photodamaged skin". Journal of the American academy of dermatology. 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Old Man Poem by Edward Thomas". Poemhunter.com. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
- ^ Confucius (2016-08-29). Delphi Collected Works of Confucius - Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism (Illustrated). Delphi Classics. ISBN 978-1-78656-052-0.
- ^ European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (2012). "Compendium of botanicals reported to contain naturally occuring [sic] substances of possible concern for human health when used in food and food supplements" (PDF). EFSA Journal. 10 (5): 2663. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2663.
External links
edit
- Southernwood Spice Page by G. Katzer