Roman soldiers stuffed mugwort in their sandals against tired feet
Mugwort is a humble roadside herb with a remarkable résumé. Roman soldiers tucked it into their sandals to ward off fatigue, medieval Europeans wore it against evil on St. John's Eve, brewers flavoured beer with it before hops, and East Asian cooks still colour rice cakes and dumplings with it.
The name covers several fragrant species of Artemisia. In Europe it usually means common mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris; in China Artemisia argyi is the plant of traditional medicine, whose leaf is burned in moxibustion; in Korea and Japan Artemisia princeps is known as ssuk and yomogi. Wormwood, the absinthe plant, is a close relative and the two are sometimes confused.
Even the word is debated. A popular folk explanation links it to the drinking mug, a coincidence of sound, although the plant really has flavoured drinks since at least the early Iron Age. Other suggestions trace it to an Old Norse word for marsh, or to the Old English word for midge, fitting its long use as an insect repellent. Wort itself comes from an Old English word for root or herb.
Europe gave it a magical reputation. A 10th-century Old English healing spell, the Nine Herbs Charm, names it among its plants, calling it mucgwyrt. In the Middle Ages it was called the girdle of St. John, from a belief that John the Baptist wore it in the wilderness, and a crown of it on St. John's Eve was thought to guard against possession. On the Isle of Man it is still worn on lapels at the Tynwald Day celebrations. Travellers once carried it against evil spirits and wild animals.
It is also food and chemistry. The bitter leaves and young shoots can season fatty meat and fish, and Chinese cooking has used it for centuries; the 11th-century poet Su Shi mentioned it, and Hakka Taiwanese cooks make sweet dumplings with it. Its essential oil contains camphor, cineole and varying amounts of thujone, and kills insect larvae, though it also stunts garden plants. The downy hairs under the leaves make excellent tinder, and in Japan, China and Korea it goes into incense.
Source: Mugwort
