Common ragweed
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. December 2017.
Scientific name: Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.
Common name(s): common ragweed, annual ragweed, short ragweed
Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile, Go Botany, NPIN Profile
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- late July
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- green inflorescence
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- leaf shape variable
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- inflorescence can be dark
Description:
-annual
-leaves are
- simple lobed leaflets
- alternate
- opposite
-may be confused with perennial ragweed (A. psilostachya); see left sidebar of Go Botany webpage
-documented in New England hybridizing with A. trifida; see Flora Novae Angliae information at bottom of Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-disturbed sites
-roadsides
-meadow and fields
Agriculture:
-produces a large quantity of seeds used by birds and small mammals
Natural History:
-native to North America
-major cause of hay fever
- the pollen is harvested to treat hay fever
-used by Native Americans as an herbal medicine
Source(s):
Haines, A., Farnsworth, E., Morrison, G., & New England Wild Flower Society. (2011). New England Wildflower Society’s Flora Novae Angliae: A manual for the identification of native and naturalized higher vascular plants of New England. Framingham, MA: New England Wild Flower Society. p. 373.
Go Botany. “Ambrosia Artemisiifolia L.” Ambrosia Artemisiifolia (Common Ragweed): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/ambrosia/artemisiifolia/.