Artemisia capillaris Thunb., Fl. Jap. 309. 1787. A. scoparia Waldst. & Kit. Pl. Rar. Hung. 1: 66. t. 65. 1802; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 323. 1881. A. capillaris Thunb. var. scoparia (Waldst. & Kit.) Pamp. in Nuovo Giorn. Botan. Ital. n.s. 34. 642. 1926-27.

Mah. (Bombay): Churisaroj, Danti; Punj.: Biur, Dona, Durunga, Jhan, Marua.

Herbs, annual, glabrous to sparsely villous, 20 - 60 cm high; branches dull purple to pale white, slender, grooved; rootstock woody. Radical leaves broadly ovate in outline, ca 6 cm long, 1 - 3-pinnatisect; segments setaceous; cauline leaves pinnatisect. Heads sessile, or on short capillary peduncles, secund in densely or sparsely panicled racemes, 0.2 - 0.25 cm in diam. Involucral bracts oblong, obtuse with white scarious margins, 1 - 2 mm long glabrous, outer green with scarious margins. Receptacle small, slightly convex, naked. Outer florets female, fertile, 1 mm long, corolla filiform. Disc florets hermaphrodite, sterile, tubular; 1.8 mm long, limb 5-fid. Achenes brown narrowly obovate, 0.8 mm long, obscurely striate.

Fl. & Fr. July - Dec.

Distrib. India: Indo-Gangetic Plain and W. Himalayas, between 1500-3500 m. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Pakistan, W. Tibet, N. China, Mongolia, Japan and Afghanistan to C. Europe.

Notes. A highly variable species.