Genepi (Alpine Wormwood)

High in the Alps, where almost nothing else dares to flower, shepherds and mountaineers have long gathered genepi's silvery, aromatic tufts to steep into a bracing tea or to infuse into the famous liqueur that shares its name. It was carried in pockets and rucksacks as a remedy for the chill, fatigue, and sluggish digestion that come with long days at altitude, and it became something of a badge of honor among climbers, who considered finding and picking it a small mountaineering feat in itself. Village apothecaries across the French, Italian, and Swiss Alps kept dried genepi on hand as a bitter digestive herb, valued the way other regions valued chamomile or mint. Today it remains one of the most cherished plants of alpine folk herbalism, still gathered under strict local protections in many areas.