Stems 20-50 cm, hairy. Leaves mostly cauline, blades 5-20 × 1-2 cm, sparsely hairy. Heads in arrays 8-18 × 1-4 cm. Involucres 3-5 × 4-8 mm. Corollas yellowish, 1-1.5 mm. Cypselae 0.5-1 mm . 2n = 18.

Flowering mid-late summer. Dry, gravelly stream banks, grassy flats, forested areas, dry hillsides; 100-1500 m; Yukon; Alaska; Eurasia.

Widely distributed in Eurasia and often confused with Artemisia norvegica, A. laciniata subsp. laciniata can be distinguished by its well-developed basal leaves and smaller heads.