Artemisia dracunculus

Price range: $3.85 through $8.20

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Wild Tarragon

Wild Tarragon is an herbaceous perennial shrub, growing slender, branched stems with broad, glossy green leaves and tiny pale yellow blooms in late summer. Tarragon grows up to 4-5 feet tall, and spreading up to 5 feet wide. Native to a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere, found in the southern half of CA, in the coastal mountains and Sierras.

Many indigenous peoples use Wild Tarragon in a variety of ways – as an herbal tonic or beverage (Chiracua and Mescalero Apache peoples), poultices for wounds, snowblindness or diaper rash (Crow Nation), burned to deter mosquitoes (Okanagan-Colville), and in a decoction to regulate menstrual periods (Anishinaabe). In the garden, use as a feathery backdrop shrub in a sunny or rocky garden.

Lifeform: Perennial, Shrub

Sun: Full Sun

Water: Dry, Light, Moderate

Soil: Clay, Loam, Rocky, Sand

Other: Attracts Butterflies

Container

D-16, D-16S, D-16S-o
Ecological Value

Likely host to 31 species of butterflies and moths. Provides nesting materials and structure for native bees.
Ethnobotanical Uses

Many indigenouse peoples use Wild Tarragon – leaves and young stems are boiled to make a beverage by Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache.
Distribution

Widely distributed across the contiguous US
Elevation

7" – 12481"
Communities

Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, Foothill Woodland, Joshua Tree Woodland, Red Fir Forest, Valley Grassland, Yellow Pine Forest
Habitat

Found in a variety of settings and habitats including coastal sage scrub, chaparral, grasslands, woodlands, coniferous forests, meadows and disturbed sites.

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