The plant known as wormwood is inherently connected to the Chernobyl (Chornobyl) region through both its natural presence and a profound linguistic link. This dual connection makes the plant a unique biological and cultural symbol of the area. The question of whether wormwood continues to grow in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is an examination of how life persists and adapts in one of the world’s most altered environments. Exploring this relationship requires looking at the historical roots of the place name, the plant’s identity, and its contemporary ecological status within the contaminated landscape.
The Origin of the Place Name
The name of the city, “Chernobyl,” is a direct historical and linguistic reference to the plant that grows abundantly in the region. The Ukrainian name, Chornóbyl’ (чорнобиль), is the local term for the plant species Artemisia vulgaris, commonly known in English as mugwort or common wormwood. The etymological roots of the name are derived from a combination of Slavic words describing the plant’s appearance.
The first part of the term, chorn, translates to “black,” referring to the plant’s dark, often reddish-brown stems. The second component, byl, is a general term for “grass” or “stalk.” Therefore, the name Chernobyl literally means “black stalk” or “black grass,” referencing the appearance of Artemisia vulgaris. The historical town took its name from this prevalent local flora long before the nuclear facility existed.
There is often confusion between Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort) and Artemisia absinthium (true wormwood). While both are related species, the place name is specifically derived from the Ukrainian name for A. vulgaris. This linguistic overlap was amplified after the 1986 disaster when the English translation of the biblical Book of Revelation referenced a star named “Wormwood.” This led to a widely circulated but botanically inaccurate symbolic connection.
Identifying the Wormwood Plant
The plant at the heart of the name, Artemisia vulgaris, is a hardy perennial belonging to the daisy family, Asteraceae, and is widespread across temperate regions of Europe and Asia. It is a relatively tall, herbaceous plant, often reaching up to six feet in height, that spreads effectively through rhizomatous roots. The leaves are deeply lobed and dark green on the upper surface but covered in fine, silvery-white hairs on the underside, creating a distinct bicolor appearance.
The leaves and stems contain volatile essential oils, giving the plant a strong, aromatic scent. Its natural habitat is characterized by disturbed, uncultivated ground, such as roadsides and the sandy soils typical of the Polissia region. This resilience and preference for ruderal (weedy) environments ensured its continued prevalence in the area, even before the human evacuation of the zone.
Ecological Status in the Exclusion Zone
Wormwood and its relatives are still growing and thriving within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, capitalizing on the absence of human activity and the prevalence of abandoned, disturbed ground. Their status is a testament to the hardiness of the Artemisia genus and provides a measurable example of a plant interacting with radiocontamination. The plant’s ability to absorb elements from the soil makes it a subject of study concerning radionuclide uptake.
Plants in the zone are exposed to chronic radiation from long-lived radionuclides, primarily Cesium-137 ($\text{}^{137}\text{Cs}$) and Strontium-90 ($\text{}^{90}\text{Sr}$). Studies confirm that the genus Artemisia tends toward higher accumulation of radionuclides within its tissues compared to some other species.
The uptake of these radioactive isotopes is similar to how plants absorb non-radioactive nutrients; $\text{}^{137}\text{Cs}$ mimics potassium, and $\text{}^{90}\text{Sr}$ mimics calcium. This absorption capability places Artemisia species within the broader category of plants relevant to phytoremediation, which is the use of plants to remove, stabilize, or detoxify contaminants.
While the wormwood plants continue to grow, researchers look for signs of biological change due to chronic radiation exposure. Many plants in the exclusion zone have developed mechanisms to cope with radiation stress, such as increased expression of genes related to DNA repair and antioxidant defense. Its persistent presence suggests a successful adaptation or tolerance to the decades of low-dose chronic irradiation. The plant that gave the city its name is now an indicator of the environment’s slow, complex recovery.