The inflorescence contains many spherical flower heads each about half a centimeter wide and lined with woolly-haired, gray-green or brownish phyllaries.

[3] Artemisia frigida is common and dominant or codominant in many areas, especially in dry and disturbed habitat types.

It is common in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains in North America, where it occurs in grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands, among others.

Artemisia frigida is cultivated for its foliage effects, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

It also has ceremonial and veterinary applications, including for the Blackfoot, who reportedly used the crushed leaves to "revive gophers after children clubbed them while playing a game".

Sprigs of this plant and corn ears are attached to decorated tablets and carried by female dancers in a drama.

[13] Mongol herders from the Bairin Right Banner and Bairin Left Banner of Inner Mongolia prepare a water-based decoction using fresh or dried Artemisia frigida with Sabina vulgaris, Sanguisorba officinalis, Rhododendron micranthum, and Ephedra sinica to treat joint pain.