Contents:
Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information
Legends, Myths and Stories | Uses | Formulas or Dosages | Nutrient Content | How Sold | Warning | Resource Links
Scientific Names
- Artemisia argyi H.Lév. & Vaniot
- Artemisia argyi
Common Names
- Chinese mugwort
- Silvery wormwood
- Àicǎo – Chinese
- Ài yè – Chinese
- Ài hāo – Chinese
- Chōsen yomogi – Japanese
- Hwanghae ssuk – Korean
- Longevity grass
Parts Usually Used
The leaves are the primary part used medicinally, though flowers and aerial parts are also utilized. The essential oil extracted from the leaves is considered the most important medicinal substance. The whole plant is strongly aromatic.
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Chinese mugwort is an upright, greyish, herbaceous perennial plant that grows about one meter tall (30-50 cm in some varieties) with short branches and a creeping rhizome. The plant has stalked leaves that are ovate and deeply divided, covered in small oil-producing glands. The leaves are pubescent above and densely white tomentose below. Lower leaves are about six centimeters long and bipinnate with wide lanceolate lobes and short teeth along the margins. Upper leaves are smaller and three-partite, while bracteal leaves are simple, linear and lanceolate.
The inflorescence is a narrow leafy panicle with pale yellow, tubular flowers clustered in spherical turned-down heads. The central flowers are bisexual while the marginal flowers are female. The plant has a main or single taproot system and typically has a growth cycle from March to October.
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Where Found
Chinese mugwort is native to East Asia, including China, Korea, Mongolia, Japan, and the Russian Far East (Amur Oblast, Primorye). It is widely distributed throughout most regions of East Asia, with the best quality specimens coming from Hubei province (China), Yichun Island (Japan), and Jianghua Island (South Korea), where humid climates and suitable soil conditions prevail.
The plant is a xerophile, growing on dry mountain slopes, steep river banks, the edges of oak woods, coastal scrub, wasteland, and along road and railway verges. It performs better and is more aromatic when grown on poor, dry soil. It prefers dry soil conditions overall.
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Medicinal Properties
Chinese mugwort has been extensively studied and shown to possess numerous medicinal properties including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, anti-cancer, cardiovascular protective, antidiabetic, immune system modulating, anti-fatigue, and insecticidal effects.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the leaves are considered to have bitter, pungent and warm properties and are associated with the liver, spleen and kidney meridians. The herb is believed to increase blood supply to the pelvic region, stimulate menstruation, and help treat infertility, dysmenorrhea, asthma, and coughs.
Modern research has demonstrated that Chinese mugwort essential oil suppresses inflammatory responses by inhibiting JAK/STAT signaling pathways, shows antimicrobial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, exhibits antioxidant properties through free radical scavenging, and displays anti-cancer effects through multiple mechanisms including apoptosis induction.
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Biochemical Information
More than 200 chemical components have been detected in Chinese mugwort essential oil, including:
- Terpenes (monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes)
- Alpha-thujene
- 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol)
- Camphor
- Artemisia alcohol
- Borneol
- Caryophyllene
- Ketones and aldehydes
- Alcohols and phenols
- Acids and esters
- Alkanes and olefins hydrocarbons
- Flavones including eupatilin and jaceosidin
- Triterpenes
- Artemisolides (lactones with antitumor activity)
- Plantagoguanidinic acid A
- Caffeic acid and dicaffeoylquinic acids
The essential oil composition includes ethers (23.66%), alcohols (16.72%), sesquiterpenes (15.21%), esters (11.78%), monoterpenes (11.63%), ketones (6.09%), and aromatic compounds (5.01%).
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Legends, Myths and Stories
Chinese mugwort is known as the “longevity grass” in eastern countries for its warm effect to cure many cold diseases. It has been used in medicine, food, bathing, moxibustion, and fumigation for more than two thousand years and has become a cultural symbol of the Dragon Boat Festival in China.
The fine fibers of the plant have traditionally been used as a binding agent for seal stamping paste, with the ability to hold oil and cinnabar pigment without drying for decades. These fibers allow stamp images to remain stable without blurring, and no other fiber is said to surpass Chinese mugwort in these qualities. The stamps have been held in deep esteem with thousands of years of use in China, adorning documents, calligraphy, and artwork.
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Uses
Traditional medicinal uses include treatment of:
- Liver disease, stomach problems, and urinary system inflammation
- Asthma, malaria, hepatitis, and inflammation
- Fungal, bacterial, and viral infections
- Tuberculosis and menstrual symptoms
- Eczema and skin conditions
- Cough (leaves are chewed for relief)
- Hemorrhage, abdominal pain, and dysmenorrhea
The herb is used as an antiseptic, expectorant, febrifuge, and styptic. A volatile oil extracted from the leaves can be sprayed onto the back of the throat for rapid relief of asthma and bronchitis.
Chinese mugwort is extensively used in moxibustion, a form of traditional healing where the herb is burned in cones, sticks, or compressed balls, often placed on top of inserted acupuncture needles to help heat the area being treated.
Culinary and other uses include:
- Making pastries, breads, dumplings, and cakes
- Processing into tea or wine
- Mixed with rice for food therapy
- Used as an air purifier and mosquito repellent
- Bathing applications for fragrance and health benefits
Formulas or Dosages
Note: Clinical data are lacking to provide specific dosing recommendations. Most commercial products are available in powder and oil forms.
