ARTEMISIA. SAGEBRUSH.
Artemisia Californica, Less. Composite Family.
Stems.—Shrubby; four or five feet high; with many slender branches. Leaves.—Alternate; pinnately parted into three- to seven-filiform divisions; or entire and filiform; an inch or so long; strong-scented. Flower-heads.—Very small; two lines or less across; numerous, in narrow panicles; greenish; composed of tubular disk-flowers only. Hab.—Marin County to San Bernardino.
The Artemisia, or, as it is more commonly called, "sagebrush," is an old friend that we always expect to meet in our walks on rocky hill-slopes. Its leaves have a clean, bitter fragrance, similar to that of the mugwort, but sweeter, and when crushed in the hand they emit a strong odor of turpentine.
Dr. Behr tells me that in the early days the miners laid sprays of it in their beds to drive away the fleas.
The Spanish-Californians regard it as a panacea for all ills, and use it in the form of a strong wash to bathe wounds and swellings, with excellent results.
Another species—A. tridentata, Nutt.—is the shrubby form, growing so abundantly all over the alkali plains of the Great Basin, where it holds undisputed possession with the prairie-dog and the coyote. It has narrow, wedge-shaped leaves, which are three-toothed at the apex; and the whole plant has a strong odor of turpentine.
This is highly esteemed by the Indians as a medicinal plant.