� Morphological descriptionThe armoise blanche is a perennial, 30-40 cm., witha characteristic smell of thymol, very leafy and withtomentose young branches. The leaves are hairy,silvery, small, deeply bi-pennated, with linear strips.The flowers are all hermaphrodite, packed togetherin very small capitula, sessile and in bunches. Theoutside bracts of the involucre are orbicular, hairyand shorter than the inside bracts, which are greenon the back, very scarious and glandulous. The fruitsare achenes.The vegetative growth of the armoise blanche takesplace in the autumn; the flowering starts in Juneand basically develops at the end of the summer.Two cytotypes have been discovered in pre-SaharanTunisia (Ferchichi, 1997): the diploid with thegametic number n=9 and the tetraploid with chro-mosomatic number n=18. The morphological,biological and ecological features of the two cyto-types highlights differences as to the capitula,corolla and vegetative vigour.These differences allowed Ferchichi (1997) toconsider two varieties for Artemisia herba alba inpre-Saharan Tunisia: Artemisia herba alba Asso. var.herba alba (n=9) and Artemisia herba alba Asso.var. desertii Ferchichi (N=18).

� Geographical descriptionLocal: Known from the Tunisian dorsal ridge as faras the deep south.Regional: North Africa.Global: The plant is very widely distributed: from

the Canaries and south-eastern Spain in the Westas far as Asia, via the whole of North Africa and theNear East.

� EcologyThe armoise blanche develops in bioclimatic stagesthat range from the upper semi-arid to the lowerSaharan. It is found on sandy and silty steppes andon hillsides. It characterises many plant groups insouthern Tunisia: the association with Artemisiaherba alba and Centaurea acaulis; the associationwith Artemisia herba alba and Helianthemum rufi-comum; the association with Artemisia herba albaand Arthrophytum scoparium.It has a seasonal dimorphism, losing its wide winterleaves at the beginning of the dry season andreplacing them with smaller summer leaves whoseanatomical structure is different.It is fairly dynamic (big production of seeds, highpower of regeneration) and a great coloniser (ofsurfaces left free after the over-exploitation ofalfalfa sheets).

� Conservation, culture and statusWidely distributed in Tunisia, it is much sought afterfor its therapeutic virtues, and is thus subject tofrequent, unsupervised picking.

� Part usedThe flowery tips, found in herbalists’.

� ConstituentsAn essential oil of armoise blanche (0.003 to 0.3%)contains santonin, lactones of sesquiterpenic acids,flavonoids, coumarins, pentacyclic triterpens, anthra-cenosids and tannins.

� Traditional medicineThe armoise blanche is known for its carminative

A Guide to Medicinal Plants in North Africa 49

Artemisia herba alba Asso. Syn. Strip. Arag. 117. 1779 Artemisia aragonensisLam.

Arabic: ChihFrench: Armoise blanche

Artemisia herba alba AssoAsters

Compiled by: Dr. Zeineb GhrabiDr. Sand L.R. Al-Rowaily

A Guide to Medicinal Plants in North Africa50

properties. An infusion of the flowers and leaves isa vermifuge.Prax (1850, in Le Floc’h, 1983) notes that thearmoise blanche mixed with henna and diluted inwater can be applied to the head for neuralgia andother pain. He also reports that the plant is used tobandage wounds and for stomach-ache.Passager et Dorey (1958, in Le Floc’h, 1983)mention that this species is also used for digestivedisorders, abdominal pain, colic and liver failure,and to flavour tea.

� ToxicityEating too much armoise blanche has a purgativeeffect, especially on sheep, and can cause younglambs to die.

� ReferencesBezanger-Beauquesne L. Et M. Pinkas, 2000 :

Plantes médicinales des régions tempérées. Ed.Maloine. 381 p.

Bruneton J., 1999 : Pharmacognosie, Phytochimie,Plantes Médicinales. Tech. Doc. 3ème édition.Paris, France.

Ben M’Hemmed M., 2002: Principale espèces médi-cinales et aromatiques se développant à l’étatnaturel en Tunisie. Séminaire sur la promotionde l’investissement dans le secteur des plantesaromatiques et médicinales. CommunicationSIAT, 2- 5 Octobre. 2002, Tunis.

Chaieb M. et M. Boukhris, 1998 : Flore succincte et

illustrée des zones arides et sahariennes deTunisie. ATPNE, Sfax. 290 p.

Ferchichi A . 1997 : Contribution à l’étude caryolo-gique, caryosystématique, morpho-biologique etécologique de la flore de la Tunisie présaharienne.Doctorat d’Etat ; Fac. des Sc. de Tunis. 214p.

Khiari D., B. Ben Tiba, F. Harzallah Skhiri etR.Chemli, 2000 : Etude de quelques plantesmédicinales de la région de Sousse. Revue del’INAT. Vol., 15, 2 : 49- 62.

Le Floc’h E. 1983 : Contribution à une étude ethno-botanique de la flore tunisienne. ProgrammeFlore et Végétation tunisienne. Min. de l’En.Sup. et de la Rech. Sci. 387 p.

Le Floc’h E., A. Schoenenberger, A. Nabli et M. A.Valdeyron, 1989: Biologie et écologie des prin-cipaux taxons. In essai de synthèse sur la végé-tation et la phytoecologie tunisienne. I.Eléments de botanique et de phytoécologie.Ouvrage collectif coordonné par A. Nabli, Fac.Sci. Tunis., Imprimerie Officielle de la Répu-blique Tunisienne. p : 49 – 193.

Ministère de l’Environnement et de l’Aménagementdu Territoire 1996 : Plantes Naturelles du SudTunisien. Programme Main verte. 223 p.

Pottier Alapetite G., 1981 : Flore de la Tunisie.Angiospermes- dicotylédones, Gamopétales.Programme flore et végétation tunisiennes.655- 1190 p.

Wichtel. M. et R. Anton, 1999 : Plantes thérapeu-tiques. Edition Tech. Doc.: 52 – 54.