[4] Artemisia rigida is a small, spreading, deciduous shrub with many woody branches up to 40 centimeters long.

The similar Artemisia tripartita leaf typically has shorter woolly hairs.

On these unproductive sites, which occur in the Channeled Scablands, for example, this plant is a climax species.

[4] In the Columbia Basin it often dominates regions with thin rocky soils, and has Sandberg's bluegrass as the main understory species along with various low herbaceous plants such as Viola trinervata and small Lomatium species.

[7] Artemisia rigida provides food for wildlife because it is often the only plant exposed as the snow melts in the spring on mostly barren landscapes.