AJENJO – WORMWOOD

Botanical Name: Artemisia absinthium

Common Names: Wormwood, Old Woman, Absinth, Pasture Sagewort
Description: Wormwood is a species of Artemisia, a woody shrub known for its bitter aromatic taste, native to temperate regions of Eurasia and Northern Africa. In folklore both ancient and modern, this plant has gained a glamorous and mysterious reputation. Artemisia absinthium is named after the Greek Goddess Artemis, goddess of the hunt, guardian of the forest and of children, and has been used medicinally for many thousands of years. In the west it is most notorious for being the main ingredient in the spirit Absinthe, known for its psychoactive and hallucinogenic effects on the brain (similar to THC) due to its active constituent thujone. Because of this, Absinthe was banned in many European countries as well as the US, though this did not deter the many famous artists - including Hemingway and Van Gogh -  who swore by Absinthe for the creative insight it engendered