This is not a weed, although the name Wormwood puts it with them. This is an herb with a dubious reputation, having been used for making absinthe. In the past, it was used as a strong purgative, and brought on body convulsions.In the picture, Artemis absinthus is in flower. I planted a number of them for decorative foliage,for which it is used now.
But look at the common weeds we try to keep out of gardens.
Look at their names :
Redwood Pigweed,
Nodding Beggar-ticks,
Great Ragweed,
Canada Fleabane,
Marsh Cudweed,
Poverty Weed,
Sticky Groundsel,
Puncture Vine...
Hardly attractive as names.
Not all are evocative of the worst, but most are!
Take some time with a weed identifier book.With one you can read the ugly names in two languages:
Royer, France and Richard Dickenson. Weeds in the Northern U.S. and in Canada (1999).Foreword by Shafeek Ali, Provincial Weed specialist (Bet that's a job title you haven't seen.)Alberta, CA: Lone Pine Publications.
One of the very best documentation parts of the book is the listing for each weed its dangers for livestock, humans, waterways, as well as a picture of the plant as seed, seedling, and grown plant. This book shows the waterways endangered by the Cattail (not the reverse(.
The Rutgers University Agricutural Dept.has a weed identification database:Online Weed Gallery:http:// njaes.rutgers.edu/
weeds/
Use the identifier, but more important---get rid of them. Read Ray Edel's recent column to see how.Although this cattail is not as ugly sounding a name as other weeds, it is a USDA -recognized weed, clogging many canals in Florida.Cattails: Great Swamp near Gillette, NJ,
---Urban Herban
