Leaves are strongly aromatic and covered with fine glandular hairs that reflect sunlight giving a grayish aspect to the shrub.

[7] Essential oil of A. herba-alba, from the Sinai Desert, contains mainly 1,8-cineole and appreciable amounts of α- / β-thujone as well as other oxygenated monoterpenes including terpinen-4-ol, camphor and borneol.

[14][16] Artemisia herba-alba is good fodder for grazing animals, mainly sheep, and in the Algerian steppes cattle.

[9] Artemisia herba-alba was reported as a traditional remedy of enteritis, and various intestinal disturbances, among the Bedouins in the Negev desert.

[21] An aqueous extract of aerial parts of the plant has shown a hypoglycemic effect in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits and mice.

[22][23][24] Artemisia herba-alba is thought to be the plant translated as "wormwood" in English-language versions of the Bible (apsinthos in the Greek text).