Mugwort Profile

Mugwort is a plant of the genus Compositae and Artemisia. It is a perennial herb or slightly semi-shrubby with a strong fragrance. The taproot is obvious, slightly thick and long, with a diameter of 1.5 cm, and more lateral roots. The stem is solitary or few, 80-150 (-250) cm high. The leaves are thick paper, covered with gray-white pubescent hairs, with white glands and small pits. The flower head is oval, 2.5-3mm in diameter, sessile or nearly sessile. Achenes are long ovoid or oblong. Mugwort's flowering and fruiting period is generally from July to October.

Mugwort is distributed in Mongolia, North Korea, Russia (Far East) and China. It is also cultivated in Japan. Mugwort is found in wastelands, roadside rivers and hillsides in low to mid-elevation areas. Mugwort is also found in forest grassland and grassland areas. Some areas are the dominant species of plant communities. The whole herb is used as a medicine, which has the functions of warming menstruation, dehumidification, dispelling cold, hemostasis, anti-inflammatory, anti-asthmatic, relieving cough, anti-allergy, etc. Mugwort leaves are dried and smashed to make moxa sticks for moxibustion and as a raw material for inkpad. Besides, the whole grass of mugwort is used as insecticide pesticide or smoke fume as room disinfection and insecticide. The shoots and seedlings of Mugwort are used as vegetables. Mugwort is dried and crushed into mugwort powder, which can also be used as a natural plant dye.

Mugwort morphological characteristics

Mugwort is a perennial herb or slightly semi-shrub-like, and the plant has a strong aroma. The main root is obvious, slightly thick and long, with a diameter of 1.5 cm and many lateral roots; there are often lying underground rhizomes and vegetative branches. The stem of mugwort is solitary or a few, 80-150 cm high, with obvious longitudinal ribs, brown or grayish brown, slightly lignified at the base, grassy on the upper part, with a few short branches, 3-5 cm long; Stems and branches are covered with gray spider silky pilose. The leaves of such a herb are thick and papery, with off-white pubescent hairs on the top, white glands and small pits, and densely covered with off-white spider filamentous dense hairs on the back; basal leaves with long stalks, withered during flowering; the lower part of the stem leaves nearly round or wide oval, pinnately deep-lobed, with 2-3 lobes on each side, lobes elliptical or obovate-oblong, with 2-3 small lobes in each lobule, the dorsal and lateral veins are mostly dark brown after drying Or rust-colored, the petiole is 0.5-0.8 cm long; the middle leaf of mugwort is ovate, triangular-ovate or nearly diamond-shaped, 5-8 cm long, 4-7 cm wide. The flower head of mugwort is oval, 2.5-3 mm in diameter, sessile or nearly sessile, each with a few to more than 10 pieces arranged in small spikes or compound spikes on the branches, and the stem usually re-formed into narrow, spire-shaped panicles, with heads tilted down after flowering. Mugwort’s involucre 3-4 layers, imbricately arranged, the outer involucre is small, herbaceous, ovate or narrowly ovate, The back is densely covered with gray-white spider filamentous wool, the margin is membranous, the middle involucre is longer than the outer layer, and is longer ovate, the back is covered with spider filamentous wool, the inner involucre is thin, and the back of mugwort is nearly absent hair. The inflorescence of mugwort is small; the female flowers are 6-10, the corolla is narrow and tubular, the eaves are 2-lobed, purple, the style is slender, the corolla is very long, and the apex is 2 forks; the bisexual flowers are 8-12, the corolla tubular or goblet-shaped, with glandular dots on the outside, purple eaves, narrow anthers, apex appendages pointed, long triangle, mugwort’s base with inconspicuous small pointed heads, style and corolla nearly as long or slightly longer than corolla, Bend outwards after the flower. The flowering and fruiting period of mugwort is generally from July to October.

Mugwort efficacy and role

The medicinal value of mugwort

The whole herb is used as a medicine, which has the functions of warming menstruation, dehumidification, dispelling cold, hemostasis, anti-inflammatory, relieving asthma, relieving cough, anti-abortion, anti-allergic, etc. It is recorded as hemostatic medicine in the past medical records, and it is also one of the commonly used medicines in gynecology. It is particularly good for treating gynecological diseases of deficiency and cold, and it also treats chronic bronchitis and asthma in the elderly. It can prevent and treat the mother and infant infections during the puerperium when boiling water and bathing. Pharmaceutical pillows, medical vests, prevention and treatment of chronic bronchitis or asthma in the elderly, and stomachache of deficiency and cold.

The economic value of mugwort

Mugwort is dried and mashed to make moxa sticks for moxibustion, and it can also be used as a raw material for inkpad. Besides, the whole grass is used as insecticide pesticide or smoke fume as room disinfection and insecticide. Mugwort is dried and crushed into mugwort powder, which is a high-quality feed additive for livestock and poultry. Mugwort can also be used as a natural plant dyes.

Edible value of mugwort

The shoots and seedlings of mugwort are used as vegetables.

Mugwort growth habit and growing environment and distribution

Mugwort is born in wastelands, roadside rivers and mountain slopes in low to mid-elevation areas. It is also found in forest grassland and grassland areas. Some areas are the dominant species of plant communities. Mugwort is very easy to multiply and grow, and it has a strong adaptability to climate and soil. It is resistant to cold and drought, prefers a warm and humid climate, and grows better in moist and fertile soil. Mugwort is cultivated in hilly and low-middle-mountain areas. The growth period of Mugwort is 24-30℃. When the temperature is higher than 30℃, the stems are prone to aging, branching, and disease and insect pests are aggravated; when the low temperature in winter is less than -3℃, the ratoon growth will not grow. 
Mugwort is widely distributed in Mongolia, North Korea, Russia (Far East), and cultivated in China and Japan.

Mugwort cultivation

Sowing of mugwort

The seed reproduction of mugwort should be sown in early spring. Direct seeding or seedling transplanting can be carried out from March to April. The row spacing of direct seeding should be 40-50 cm. After sowing, the soil should not be too thick, 0.5 cm is appropriate or covered with the seeds. When the height of the mugwort seedlings is 10-15 cm, the mugwort seedlings shall be determined according to the spacing of 20-30 cm.

Ramets of mugwort

Mugwort has a strong tillering ability. Generally, one plant of Mugwort can till several to dozens of plants a year, which can be used as a material for ramet propagation. Therefore, most of the production uses the method of ramets propagation, which is also the main propagation method of artificial cultivation. Every year from March to April, when the mugwort seedlings grow from rhizomes are 15-20 cm high, when the soil is moist, preferably after rain or after watering, you’d better dig out the whole plants of mugwort and plant them with a row spacing of 45 cm × 30 cm. If there is no precipitation in the next 2-3 days, you could drip water to keep moisture.