Artemisia annua ‘Spice Bush’ Annual Wormwood
ANNUAL WORMWOOD
Do you ever feel you would like to see what a hedge would look like in a particular place in your garden? You might try it out with Artemisia annua. Sow some seed in situ in spring and six weeks later you will have plants about 5 ft tall. If they are planted side by side at intervals of about 20 in, it will look as if a hedge of conifers has grown up in less than no time. The numerous small flowers are totally inconspicuous. What is important is the light green of the widely branching plants. The greenery forms slended backdrop for summer flowering plants.
rtemisia annua, also known as Sweet Wormwood, Sweet Annie, Sweet Sagewort or Annual Wormwood, is a common type of wormwood that grows throughout the world. It has fern-like leaves, bright yellow flowers, and a camphor-like scent. Its height averages about 2 m tall, and the plant has a single stem, alternating branches, and alternating leaves which range 2.5-5cm in length. It is cross-pollinated by wind or insects. It is a diploid plant with chromosome number, 2n=36.
Sweet Wormwood was used by Chinese herbalists in ancient times to treat fever, but had fallen out of common use, but was rediscovered in 1970 when the Chinese Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency Treatments (340 AD) was found. This pharmacopeia contained recipes for a tea from dried leaves, prescribed for fevers (not specifically malaria).
It is commonly used in tropical nations which can afford it, preferentially as part of a combination-cocktail with other antimalarials in order to prevent the development of parasite resistance. Artemisinin itself is a sesquiterpene lactone with an endoperoxide bridge and has been produced semi-synthetically as an antimalarial drug. The efficacy of tea made from A. annua in the treatment of malaria is contentious. According to some authors, artemesinin is not soluble in water and the concentrations in these infusions are considered insufficient to treatment malaria. The plant has also been shown to have anti-cancer properties. It is said to have the ability to be selectively toxic to some breast cancer cells [Cancer Research 65:(23).Dec 1, 2005] and some form of prostate cancer, there have been exciting preclinical results against leukemia, and other cancer cells.