This species is the northernmost member of the large Western Hemisphere genus Baccharis in the aster family (Asteraceae).

[citation needed] Baccharis halimifolia is a fall-flowering shrub growing to about 12 ft (4 m) high and comparably wide, or occasionally a small tree.

Their flowers are borne in numerous small, compact heads in large leafy terminal inflorescences, with the snowy-white, cotton-like female flower-heads showy and conspicuous at a distance.

[11] Other habitats in the northeastern United States include freshwater tidal marshes and open woods and thickets along the seacoast.

Furthermore, the lepidoptera Hellinsia balanotes (Meyrick, 1908), Aristotelia ivae Busck, 1900, Lorita baccharivora Pogue, 1988 and Prochoerodes truxaliata (Guenée, 1858) were released for its biological control.

In the northeastern United States, the species has become common well inland of the shrub's natural range along various major highways where road salt is heavily used,[7] sometimes forming conspicuous displays when flowering in the fall, as along I-95 in Howard County, Maryland.