4 differences between mugwort and sweet wormwood, teaching you to tell them apart easily

In nature, there are many plants that look similar. Mugwort and sweet wormwood mostly grow on field ridges and beside ponds, and many people cannot tell them apart. Today, the editor will teach everyone to identify mugwort and sweet wormwood.

1. Difference in growing areas

In terms of family and genus, mugwort and sweet wormwood are both Asteraceae plants and are closely related, but their names are different. The scientific name of mugwort is Artemisia argyi, with aliases such as Xiaomao, Bingtai, Ecao, and Xiang'ai. It often grows in wasteland, roadsides, riversides, and hillsides from low to medium altitudes, and can also be seen in grasslands. The scientific name of sweet wormwood is Artemisia selengensis, and it mainly grows in low-altitude, moist riverside sandy areas, valleys, forest edges, roadsides, and other places. However, in some southern regions, the growing areas of mugwort and sweet wormwood are not very different, so this point alone cannot be used to completely distinguish them.

2. Difference in stems and leaves

The appearance of mugwort and sweet wormwood also differs greatly. In terms of plant height, sweet wormwood is shorter, its main stem is relatively thin, and the stem is dark red, growing to only about 10 cm at most, while mugwort can grow to 80-250 cm, its main stem is relatively thick and long, and the stem is light green, making them very easy to distinguish. In addition, their leaves also differ greatly. Sweet wormwood leaves are smaller, narrowly elongated, with serrated edges, and the leaves have a layer of white fuzz, soft and smooth, while mugwort leaves are wide and fat, the leaf surface is grayish green, and there is white fuzz on the underside of the leaves. This is the biggest difference between them.

3. Difference in scent

Because mugwort appears frequently in Chinese herbal medicine, we are all fairly familiar with it and also know its smell well, so it is very easy to tell them apart by scent. Mugwort gives off a unique fresh fragrance. The moxa sticks or dried mugwort leaves we often use in daily life have that smell, while sweet wormwood smells like ordinary green grass, mixed with a faint unpleasant odor, so they can also be distinguished by smell.

4. Difference in effects

Although they are close relatives and both can be used as medicine, there are certain differences in their effects. Mugwort is aromatic, bitter and drying, and pungent and dispersing. It can regulate qi and blood, warm the meridians, expel cold and dampness, and stop cold pain, and is an important medicine in gynecology. Sweet wormwood, after being used as medicine, has the effects of clearing heat, cooling blood, reducing steaming, relieving summer heat, dispelling wind, relieving itching, stopping night sweats, and preventing heatstroke, and is an antipyretic for yin deficiency tidal fever.

The above are the 4 differences between mugwort and sweet wormwood compiled by the editor. Do you understand them all now?