They are perennials with small but numerous heads of the composite type, borne in clusters more or less branched, in a spike, raceme, or panicle. The flowering stem rises from prostrate branches grown the previous year.
Hairs cover the white-silvery stems and leaves.
The leaves of A. tilesii usually divide into narrow lobes having slender, sharp tips. The flowers are yellowish brown. Both A. alaskana and A. tilesii have basal leaves that tend to be the largest of the plant's leaves. In A. alaskana the basal leaves can form rosettes. Artemisia tilesii grows in sandy places in mountains and lowlands throughout most of Alaska and into Canada and Siberia.