This Artemsia is a form of  tarragon.  It can be used as a culinary herb but is not as flavorful as Franch tarragon.It is a perennial  whose lower leaves are deciduous  and the flowers are insignificant. Tarragon spreads by rhizomes  and has stiff erect stems around 5 ft. high.  In California tarragon is found from coastal sage scrub to coniferous forest at elevations up to 11 000 ft. Although considered native to California there has been some speculation that it was introduced very early on  possibly from Siberia.