Mugwort or wormwood?

Hello, I wonder if you can help me identify a plant which I have transplanted into my back garden. My wife is from Vietnam, where mugwort is considered a nutritious food, so we were keen to grow some. We found what we thought was mugwort by the side of the road and transplanted some to a dark corner, where it is flourishing. Since then, I have started to doubt whether it is actually mugwort or wormwood, which is a powerful medicinal herb and which we would not want to eat regularly as a food. Here are photos of the whole plant, flower buds and under-leaf. It has no strong smell and a fairly mild taste.

I hope someone can clear this up for me!

 

If you have collected it from the wild its more than likely is artemesia vulgas which is a native plant.

 

From a website I'm unfamiliar with called ediblewildfood in reference to Mugwort:

"This edible plant can be confused with wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). Examination of the leaves is how to tell the difference. Mugwort leaves are green on the top and white underneath, and they have pointed tips and purplish stems, while wormwood leaves have a silvery top and bottom and the flowers are more showy."

I'm familiar with neither, but there seems to be a fair bit of contrast between top and bottom of leaf in your photos. Since we have no flowers to evaluate, I think you should examine the stems more closely. Are they purplish?

Wormwood also sounds extremely bitter from descriptions, which doesn't really accord with your sampling.

Nick

 

Thanks for your replies! I'm fairly confident now because of the taste, and the stems are going purple as the plant matures. I think wormwood also has a strong smell.