Douglas' sagewort

Artemisia douglasiana, commonly known as California mugwort or Douglas' sagewort, is a strongly aromatic rhizomatous perennial herb in the family Asteraceae native to western North America, from Washington and Idaho south through California to Baja California. It spreads by long creeping rhizomes to form colonies in moist ground along streambanks, in seeps, riparian thickets, oak woodland edges and disturbed places. Erect stems 0.5 to 2 meters tall bear alternate leaves that are highly variable: lower leaves are lance-shaped to broadly elliptic and coarsely toothed or lobed at the tip, upper leaves narrow and entire; all are dark green and nearly hairless above and densely white-tomentose beneath, releasing a pungent sage-like scent when crushed. Small greenish-yellow disk-flowered heads are borne in narrow leafy terminal panicles in late summer and autumn. The fruit is a tiny achene.