Artemisia japonica

Artemisia japonica is a perennial herb growing up to 50-130 centimeters. The rootstock is thick, woody, and has a strong smell. The leaves are clustered at the rounded apex. The leaf blade is spatulate and oblong-obovate to broadly spatulate or flabellate. The achenes are brown and obovoid.[2] The many nodding capitulas are ovoid or subglobose. 12-15 florets are yellow. The florets are bisexual, meaning that the species has male and female flowers.[3] The flowering is from August to November.[4] It is most commonly found in the months of August, September, and October. 82.3% of the time it was found it was a preserved sample, and 17.0% of the time it was observed by humans. It is most commonly found in the countries of China, Japan, and Korea.[5]

Artemisia japonica has four varieties:[5]

• Artemisia japonica var. hainanensis native to China.
• Artemisia japonica var. hallaisanensis native to Korea.
• Artemisia japonica var. japonica native to Japan.
• Artemisia japonica var. manshurica native to Northeastern China.

The young leaves are cooked and eaten. The adult leaves are used as a digestive. A decoction of the leaves can give hypertension if eaten too much. The juice from the plant is used to treat vaginitis and skin diseases.[6] The powder from drying the plant is used as an incense.[7] It is used in making antitoxifying and antifebrile drugs.[8]

In a study about artemisinin production in Artemisia species, A. japonica had around average levels compared to other species (0.05% to 0.15% artemisinin). It also had more artemisinin in the flowers than their leaves.[9]

Globodera artemisiae, a parasite, was first found on Artemisia japonica in September 2020. The parasite is commonly found on Artemisia vulgaris.[10] The plant is grazed by sheep and goats in Ladakh and Lahoul, India, but not liked by yaks in the region.[3]