Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is a perennial herb of the family Asteraceae. A subspecies, Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa, grown for use as a culinary herb leaves aromatic. In some other sub-species, aroma characteristic is largely absent. The species is polymorphic. The informal names to distinguish variations include "French tarragon" (the best for cooking), "Russian tarragon" (typically better than wild tarragon, but not as good as French tarragon call for cooking), and "wild tarragon" (multi-state).
Tarragon is native soils with relatively little water retention. But it is a desert plant. It is found natively in a number of areas of the Northern Hemisphere. It grows to 120-150 cm tall, with slender branched stems. The leaves are lanceolate, 2-8 cm long and 2-10 mm wide, green, glossy, with an entire margin. The flowers are produced in small diameter capitulae 2-4, each head of a bone which contains up to 40 florets greenish yellow or yellow. French Tarragon, however, rarely produces flowers (or seeds). Some tarragon plants produce seeds that are usually only sterile. Others produce viable seeds. Tarragon has rhizomatous roots and reproduces readily from rhizomes.
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