Seasonal Wild Flowers

Sea Wormwood

Seriphidium maritimum

Asteraceae

July to September

It is found patchily all round the coast.

See the BSBI distribution map for Sea Wormwood

It grows on coastal shingle, sea-cliffs, dykes, saltmarshes

and waste ground.

Sea Wormwood is a native, silvery, aromatic, perennial,

shrubby herb, growing up to 1m.

Flower heads are yellow-orange, small (up to 4mm),

and on long spikes and branches.

Bracts are linear, downy and silvery.

Leaves are silvery and downy.

They are simpler (one to 2 pinnate) and linear at the

top of the stem, and rounder and 2 to 3 pinnate at

the base.

The stem is woody, downy and branched.

Sea Wormwood, waste ground,

Isle of Portland, Dorset

Flower spike

Close-up of flowerheads, linear bracts

Older flowerheads, linear leaves

Upper leaves

Lower leaves and downy stem

Basal leaves and old woody stems

Sea Wormwood on upper saltmarsh, Suffolk