Absinthium sieversianum Besser in Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 8: 259.1829; A. scaposa Kitag. in Rep. First Sci. Exped. Manch. 4(2): 37. f. 8. 1935.

Annual or biennial, erect, densely appressed canescent, 30-100 cm tall herb. Root vertical, 10-20 cm long, c. 1 cm thick, with thin branches. Stem usually single. Leaves densely appressed hairy on both sides; basal and lower stem leaves with 2-5.5 cm long petiole; lamina broadly triangular-ovate, 3-10 x 2-6 cm, usually tripinnatisect into oblong, 2-10 x 0.5-2 mm, obtuse segments; uppermost in the floral region linear, entire, acute. Capitula heterogamous, numerous, hemispherical, 3-4 x 6-7 mm, remote, pedunculate, nodding in a long, narrow, 10-30 x 5-10 cm panicle with ± erect, 5-10 cm long, remote branches. Involucre 4-5-seriate, phyllaries sparsely puberulous, outermost linear-oblong, c. 2.5 x 1 mm, hyaline appendage at tip; median ± elliptic, c. 3 x 1.75-2.5 mm, with broadly scarious hyaline margins, obtuse; inner ones obovate, c. 4-4.5 x 3 mm, widely scarious margined. Receptacle densely long hairy, ± convex. Florets numerous, all fertile, yellow; marginal florets usually 15-25, with filiform, ultimately basally dilated, 2-dentate, c. 1.5 mm long, glandulose corolla tube; disc-florets 80-100, with tubular, 1.75-2 mm long, 5-toothed, glandulose corolla tube. Cypselas light brown, oblanceolate, 1-1.5 mm long, finely striate.

Fl. Per.: July-August.

Type: Described from Siberia (M).

Fairly common species, grows from 2000-3500 m in sandy clay, moist habitats, with nodding mediocre capitula; Distribution: China, N. W. India, Tibet, Pakistan (Gilgit, Chitral, Hunza, Baltistan, Kashmir), N. E. Afghanistan, Mongolia, Soviet Union (Siberia), Baltic and Central Asia.