Artemisia tournefortiana

Artemisia tournefortiana Rchb., Iconogr. Bot. Exot. 1: 6 (1824) (syn: Artemisia armeniaca Willd. ex Ledeb. ; Artemisia hispanica Jacq. ; Artemisia pyromacha Viv. );
.
Türkiye to Central Asia and W. Himalaya: Afghanistan, California, East Himalaya, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Mongolia, Nepal, North Caucasus, Pakistan, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya, Xinjiang; Introduced into: Amur, Baltic States, Belgium, Central European Rus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Northwest European R, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine as per POWO;
.


Kindly help ID this Asteraceae member from Srinagar: 8 images.

Am attaching  photos of a weed that is  common here. Request help in its identification.
Habitat : Wild. Growing in a field in Rawathpora Srinagar.
Habit: Herb 1-2 m high. Inflorescence seems to be a capitulum (2mm dia) with only disc florets. Tiny white bifid styles project outwards and may serve to attract insects. Leaves very dissected and ferny. Photos taken on 8 and 9 September.
All photos in this and my other posts are under CC-License(Attribution only needed)

Could it be Artemisia indica ?
On crushing the leaves I found them to be aromatic though they they do not smell as strongly as wormwood also a common weed here. 
Also unlike wormwood (A.absinthium) it is an annual and the leaves too are not bitter in taste.


In my previous post I had wrongly written that there are only disc florets. I have since come upon a paper regarding closely related A.annua:

Floral Morphology and Floral Sequence in Artemesia annua (2014) Hazel.Y.Wetzstein et al Amer.Jr.Bot 101 (5) 875-885.
According to this paper outer florets are pistillate ray florets. So the florets with thick styles are ray florets. Inner disc florets are hermaphroditic I could also not see anthers. According to this paper the  anthers fuse and form a tube around the style(not visible from outside). The paper also mentions presence of glandular trichomes on corolla and other parts which produce artemisinin a critical antimalarial drug. I could also see these glands (see photos).
If this species also produces artemisinin then it is of great economic importance. It would be nice if the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine situated very near Rawathpora and the Botany Dept Of Kashmir University make an intensive study of this interesting plant which if exploited could be of great economic value as malaria is widespread in India and hence there is demand for the antimalarial drug.
2 images.

I think looks different from images at
https://efloraofindia.com/2015/01/13/artemisia-indica/
Also could not find a match as per comparative images at
https://efloraofindia.com/2011/02/07/artemisia/


One more photo:
Magnified view of a Capitulum. Thick bifid styles of outer ( Pistillate, Ray florets?) are prominent. Styles of inner (hermaphrodite disc florets?) not prominent.
Photo taken today only on 18th September
1 image.

What are the species listed in Srinagar ?

I do not really know it
… might guide us in this matter as he has done considerable work on Srinagar flora.

This looks like Ambrosia artemisiifolia, a naturalized species in India.


Leaves are very similar but the following features are puzzling when when I do an image search for Ambrosia artemisiifolia on Google
1. Stems are nowhere as hairy as in google images.
2. In google images the capitula all point downwards but in my plant they all point upwards. (Please see attached photo)
3. In my plant the florets are of two distinct types. Outer florets with thick white bifid styles projecting out forming a white ring. I could not see such projecting bifid styles in outer florets on google images. (Please see my photos in previous posts).
4. Inflorescence seems to be of a different type from that in google images,
5. Some Google images show deep yellow flowers(Hence the name ragweed) but I have never seen this weed with such yellow flowers. If I ever see it I will  post the photos here.
… has posted A.artemisiifolia from Canada in October 2019 on EFI so he could kindly shed more light on this.

Please check Artemisia tournefortiana Rchb. !

I think ID is very plausible. FOC mentions pistillate florets and glands
Request opinion from experts in the field.

This is Artemisia tournefortiana Rchb., a common weedy annual.

.


Artemisia tournefortiana From Srinagar: 3 images.
Am posting three photos of Artemesia tournefortiana Rchb.; growing on the side of a path in Rawathpora Srinagar.
All photos under CCLicence (Attribution only needed.)

Please see other possibilities, altitude seems lower for this species (2500 to 4000 m)

Thanks for pointing out.
I have identified it because it was so identified by Kasuju ji and Miroslav ji in my previous post link copied below
You can see the details of flowers and inflorescence and leaves etc on that post
I know too little taxonomy to comment on the same but if it is something else it would be very interesting.
If it is tournefortiana it would still be interesting because of its being reported from a lower altitude than where it normally grows.
I reposted a new photo because at that time … had requested a better photo but at that time I did not have any.
Again thanks for your very interesting observation.


I noticed three pairs of linear 2mm long stipule like structures on the bases of the petioles arising from the adaxial side ( See Photo). One of them seems to be further divided into two.
Would request opinion of experts to confirm if they are stipules and would they be helpful in confirming its ID as A.tournefortiana.
2 images.

The illustration in Flora of China does not show the stipule like structures,
Illustration: Artemisia tournefortiana (efloras.org)
Could it be some other species as suggested by …?


Photo of a leaf showing stipule like structures at base of petiole not seen in FOC illustration
1 image.

Pl. check keys in BSI Flora of India.
Also see descriptions in FBI and BSI Flora of India (description seems to be sketchy and very few details).

BSI mentions stem as white to dull purple but here it is light green with dark green streaks (see Photo). It also gives the altitude as 2500-4000m (Srinagar alt is 1600meters asl) as was also pointed out by …
Makes no mention of tiny stipule like structures at base of petiole.
Will try to post photos of phyllaries when it flowers.
Request opinion of experts
1 image.


With time the stipules? have become divided and look like tiny leaves.

See Photo taken on August 15
1 image.

So what do you think finally w.r.t. it’s Id?

It is interesting that such a common weed seems to have gone unnoticed in Srinagar.
I have too little knowledge of taxonomy but would request the opinion of … as he or his contacts in Botany Dept of Kashmir University must surely have studied this common herb.

A possibility that comes to my mind is that it might be an invasive alien species that has not yet got noticed by local botanists.


Please cross verify with the image from Flora of Ladakh.
2 images.

Seems to be close but Leh is 3500 m asl but Srinagar (Rawathpora) is just about 1600 m asl.
I think my post would be the first record from this height.
Surprising that local botanists have missed this not uncommon herb.


Plants of Indian Himalayan Region, BSI
Artemisia tournefortiana Rchb., Iconogr. Bot. Exot. 1: 6. Pl. 5. 1824. Distribution: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir; upto 3900 m.
That means the highest elevation is 3900m., lower elevation can be any.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200023358
Screenshot from Flora of India Vol. 12

Thanks for the references and guidance
All I was curious about was to know if it has been reported from Srinagar or other lowlands of the valley before or is it the first record.
Perhaps … could enlighten us in this regard.

I am a bit confused.
In your screen shot  Distribution (copy pasted below) is given as between 2500-4000m: Distrib. India: W. Himalayas. on sandy soil between 2500-4000m. Jammu & Kashmir and HimachaI Pradesh, Pakistan. W. Tibet. Afghanistan and C. Asia.
Does it mean that in India it has not been reported below 2500m.?
To my mind that is the implication.

Different databases and books give different elevation ranges. So, I guess we have to consider the lowest and highest as the possibilities.

BSI book : Plants of Indian Himalayan Region, BSI says : Artemisia tournefortiana Rchb., Iconogr. Bot. Exot. 1: 6. Pl. 5. 1824. Distribution: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir; upto 3900 m.
That means the range should be sea level to 3900m. But I have no idea of its recordings.
Thanks for the clarification
At least I can say with confidence that this is the first posting on EFI
This to me is rather surprising as EFI has many posters from Srinagar including … who has done a huge amount of work in collecting and recording the flora of the valley.

 

.

References:
POWO  Catalogue of Life  BSI Flora of India  Flora of China  FOC illustration Annotated checklist of Flowering plants of Nepal Useful Tropical Plants