Artemisia potentillifolia H. Léveillé (1912), not Fischer ex Sprengel (1826); A. sacrorum Ledebour subf. obscura Pampanini; A. sacrorum f. platiloba Pampanini; A. sacrorum var. vestita (Wallich ex Besser) Kitamura; A. sacrorum f. wallichiana Pampanini.

Subshrubs, caespitose, 50-120 cm tall, with woody rootstock and basal branches, arachnoid pubescent, especially on adaxial surface of leaves, much branched, strongly aromatic. Lower and middle stem leaves: petiole 0.8-2 cm; leaf blade ovate, elliptic-ovate, or suborbicular, (2-)3.5-7.5 × (1.5-)2-4 cm, 2(or 3)-pinnatisect; segments 4-6 pairs; lobules deeply serrate; teeth elliptic, 1-2 × 0.2-0.5 mm; rachis serrate. Uppermost leaves and leaflike bracts smaller, pinnatisect or entire; bracts lanceolate, sparsely pectinate. Synflorescence a ± broad panicle. Capitula many. Involucre globose or hemispheric, 2.5-3.5(-4) mm in diam. Marginal female florets 6-10. Disk florets 12-20, bisexual. Achenes oblong or obovoid. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 18.

Artemisia vestita is used in anti-inflammatory and antifebrile medicines.

Hills, rocky slopes, grasslands, shrublands, outer forest margins; 2000-4300 m. Gansu, NW Guangxi, Guizhou, N Hubei, Liaoning, Qinghai, W Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [N India, Nepal, N Pakistan].