About Artemisia arctica (Besser) Leonova
Artemisia arctica, also referenced as Artemisia norvegica, is a perennial subshrub that reaches 20 to 60 centimetres (7.9 to 23.6 inches) in height. It produces erect stems that grow from a caudex and taproot. Most leaves are located low on the stems, and measure 2 to 20 centimetres (0.79 to 7.87 inches) long. Its nodding inflorescence holds flower heads that contain both ray and disc florets: the ray florets are female, with no functional male parts, while the central disc florets are bisexual. This plant reproduces by seed, and may also spread vegetatively via stolons. Its seeds are dispersed by wind. It grows in subalpine, alpine, and Arctic habitats including tundra, and can be found in moraines, fell fields, alpine meadows, and areas dominated by grasses and sedges. In Alaska, it occurs on the fjords of Prince William Sound alongside larkspur monkshood (Aconitum delphiniifolium), Eschscholtz's buttercup (Ranunculus eschscholtzii), and Canadian burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis). It grows on Alaskan mountains such as the Kenai Mountains in association with grasses, sedges, and willows. In the alpine tundra of the Rocky Mountains, it grows in snowbeds and on turf made up of blackroot sedge (Carex elynoides) and alpine clover (Trifolium dasyphyllum). It can be found in the mountains of the Northwest Territories growing among lichens and grasses such as arctic bluegrass (Poa arctica). This plant serves as food for a number of animals: in Alaska, mountain goats eat it during the summer, and it is also consumed by Sitka black-tailed deer and hoary marmots. It acts as a pioneer species in the primary phase of ecological succession in disturbed areas, such as flood-scoured plains, and is known to colonize denuded soil in vehicle tracks. It has been used to revegetate habitat disturbed during the construction of Trail Ridge Road in Colorado.
