The genus Artemisia L. in the flora of Republic of Moldova comprises 9 species [4]. The section Seriphidium (Bess.) Peterm. up to recent time was represented by Artemisia santonica L. – a halophytic species belonging to A. maritima group – a highly polymorphic and widespread group in Europe and temperate Asia [5].  The recent floristic and chorological studies of the genus Artemisia undertaken in the southern parts of Republic of Moldova enabled us to identify a new species of Artemisia from this section for the local flora – A. lerchiana Web. ex Stechm. It is a densely grey- to white-tomentose, strongly aromatic perennial with an ascending to vertical, much branched, very stout and woody stock and numerous short non-flowering shoots; flowering stems 20-40 cm, woody below. Lower cauline leaves withering at anthesis, 3- to 4-pinnatisect, petiolate or subsessile, leaf lobes 2-6 x 0,2-0,4(-0,5) mm, linear, subacute to acute; upper leaves sessile, uppermost with pinnatisect lobes basally, seldom entire. Capitula patent to nodding, oblong to ellipsoid, subsessile to sessile, erect, in a narrow paniculate inflorescence with erecto-patent branches 0.5-6.0 cm. Involucre 4-5 mm; involucral bracts oblong to narrowly linear, slightly patent, the outer tomentose, the inner often much longer than the outer, pubescent at least in the upper half, elliptical, with a linear to slightly spathulate midrib region and a glabrous, scarious margin narrowing towards the base [5]. It is a quite rare species, found only in the southern part of the country, between Valeni (N 45° 36' 35", E 28° 10' 11") and Giurgiulesti (N 45° 29' 30", E 28° 10' 45") villages, district Cahul, with a population surface totaling about 50 hectares. The collected material of plant species is deposited in the Herbarium of the Botanical Garden (Institute) of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. The species grows in Ponto-Sarmatic steppes – a type of xerophytic steppic grasslands, mostly on loessy slopes with southern, south-western and western exposition, dominated by tussock-grasses, chamaephytes and perennials [1]. These xerotherme communities are developed on southern and western exposed slopes with alkaline soils on rocky substrate and on clay-sandy sedimentation layers enriched with gravels. They are partially of natural, partially of anthropogenic origin with grasses such as Kochia prostrata (L.) Schrad., Agropyron pectinatum (Bieb.) Beauv., Koeleria cristata (L.) Pers., Artemisia austriaca Jacq., Bothriochloa ischaemum (L.) Keng, Stipa capillata L., etc. The relative inaccessibility of these sites (slopes) provide some protection to the habitat, although the threat status of the species can be assessed as vulnerable [VU: B1ab(iii,v)] [2, 3].  Acknowledgment: The research was supported by the Joint Research Project No. IZ73ZO_152265, in the framework of SCOPES 2013-2016, financed by SNSF/Swiss National Science Foundation.