wormwood definition of wormwood in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

wormwood, Mediterranean perennial herb or shrubby plant (Artemisia absinthium) of the family Asteraceae (aster aster [Gr.,=star], common name for the Asteraceae (Compositae), the aster family, in North America, name for plants of the genus Aster, sometimes called wild asters, and for a related plant more correctly called China aster (Callistephus chinensis
..... Click the link for more information. family), often cultivated in gardens and found as an escape in North America. It has silvery gray, deeply incised leaves and tiny yellow flower heads. Wormwood oil has been utilized since ancient times as an insect repellent, particularly for moths; until recently it was used for intestinal worms and for other medicinal purposes. It was also employed in brewing but is best known for its bitter principle, which is an important ingredient of absinthe absinthe , an emerald-green liqueur distilled from wormwood and other aromatics, including angelica root, sweet-flag root, star anise, and dittany, which have been macerated and steeped in alcohol. It was invented in the 1790s by a Dr.
..... Click the link for more information. ; the compound alpha-thujone, found in wormwood, formerly gave that liqueur its toxicity. Because of its bitter taste the common wormwood has long symbolized human rancor and is often so represented in the Bible.

Other artemisias, some American, are also called wormwood; still others include southernwood (A. abrotanum), tarragon tarragon , perennial aromatic Old World herb (Artemisia dracunculus) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), of the same genus as wormwood and sagebrush.
..... Click the link for more information. , silver king artemisia (A. albula), old woman, or dusty miller (A. stelleriana), Roman wormwood (A. pontica), sagebrush sagebrush, name for several species of Artemisia, deciduous shrubs of the family Asteraceae (aster family), particularly abundant in arid regions of W North America. The common sagebrush (A.
..... Click the link for more information. , sweet, or Chinese, wormwood (A. annua), from which the antimalarial artemisinin is extracted, and Levant wormseed (A. cina), which yields santonin. Artemisias are classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta , division of the plant kingdom consisting of those organisms commonly called the flowering plants, or angiosperms. The angiosperms have leaves, stems, and roots, and vascular, or conducting, tissue (xylem and phloem).
..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Asterales, family Asteraceae.

wormwood

any of various plants of the chiefly N temperate genus Artemisia, esp A. absinthium, a European plant yielding a bitter extract used in making absinthe: family Asteraceae (composites)

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No references found	He walked along the meadow, dragging his feet, rustling the grass, and gazing at the dust that covered his boots; now he took big strides trying to keep to the footprints left on the meadow by the mowers, then he counted his steps, calculating how often he must walk from one strip to another to walk a mile, then he stripped the flowers from the wormwood that grew along a boundary rut, rubbed them in his palms, and smelled their pungent, sweetly bitter scent. War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo View in context It begun then--at the time of the trouble with her lover," nodded Old Tom; "and it seems as if she'd been feedin' on wormwood an' thistles ever since--she's that bitter an' prickly ter deal with. Pollyanna by Porter, Eleanor H. View in context Removing the weeds, putting fresh soil about the bean stems, and encouraging this weed which I had sown, making the yellow soil express its summer thought in bean leaves and blossoms rather than in wormwood and piper and millet grass, making the earth say beans instead of grass -- this was my daily work. Walden & on the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Thoreau, Henry David View in context	WorldGate Worlds End State Park Worldwide Fund for Nature Worldwide Web WorldWorx worm worm conveyor worm fence Worm Gage Worm Gear worm lizard worm wheel Worm.Explorezip virus wormcast wormhole wormhole routing Wormley Conference Worms Worms, Concordat Worms, Concordat of Worms, Diet Worms, Diet of Worms, Edict of wormseed oil Wormsloe State Historic Site wormwood wormwood oil wormy WORO worobieffite worship worshipful worst case evaluation worsted worsted system wort worth Worth County Worth, Charles Frederick Worth, Irene Worth, William Jenkins Wörther See Worthies Worthing Worthington Worthington Glacier State Recreation Site Worthington State Forest Worthington, Henry Worthington, L. Valentine WOSA Wosciech Kojalowicz	worms out worms out worms out worms out Worms United worms way into worms way into worms way into worms way into Worms World Party Worms, animals Worms, animals Worms, animals Worms, animals Worms, Concordat Worms, Concordat of Worms, Diet Worms, Diet of Worms, Edict of WORMSC wormseed wormseed wormseed wormseed mustard wormseed mustard wormseed oil wormseeds wormseeds Wormsloe State Historic Site Wormul wormwood Wormwood hare wormwood oil wormwood oil wormwood sage wormwoods wormwoods wormwoods wormwoods wormy wormy worn worn worn worn worn worn Worn Currencies Worn Currency worn down worn down worn down worn down worn heart on sleeve worn heart on sleeve worn heart on sleeve worn heart on sleeve worn heart on sleeve worn hoof worn hoof worn hoof

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He walked along the meadow, dragging his feet, rustling the grass, and gazing at the dust that covered his boots; now he took big strides trying to keep to the footprints left on the meadow by the mowers, then he counted his steps, calculating how often he must walk from one strip to another to walk a mile, then he stripped the flowers from the wormwood that grew along a boundary rut, rubbed them in his palms, and smelled their pungent, sweetly bitter scent.

War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo View in context

It begun then--at the time of the trouble with her lover," nodded Old Tom; "and it seems as if she'd been feedin' on wormwood an' thistles ever since--she's that bitter an' prickly ter deal with.

Pollyanna by Porter, Eleanor H. View in context

Removing the weeds, putting fresh soil about the bean stems, and encouraging this weed which I had sown, making the yellow soil express its summer thought in bean leaves and blossoms rather than in wormwood and piper and millet grass, making the earth say beans instead of grass -- this was my daily work.

Walden & on the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Thoreau, Henry David View in context

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wormwood