Chamaejasme stelleriana Kuntze; Stellera bodinieri H. Léveillé; S. chamaejasme f. angustifolia Diels; S. chamaejasme f. chrysantha S. C. Huang; Wikstroemia chamaejasme (Linnaeus) Domke.
Herbs perennial, 20-50 cm tall. Rhizome woody, terete, stout, branched or not. Stems many, clustered, erect, unbranched, base woody, sometimes brown scaly, upper part herbaceous, green or sometimes purple, glabrous. Leaves alternate, rarely opposite or ± whorled; petiole short, ca. 1.1 mm, articulate at base; leaf blade pale or grayish green abaxially, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, rarely oblong, 1.2-2.8 × 0.3-1 cm, thinly papery, both surfaces glabrous, base rounded to cuneate, margin slightly revolute or not, apex acuminate or acute, rarely obtuse; lateral veins 4-6 pairs, visible on both surfaces. Inflorescences terminal, capitate, globose, many flowered, with involucre of green leaflike bracts. Flowers fragrant; pedicel absent. Calyx white, yellow, or reddish purple; tube cylindric, 9-11 mm, slender, conspicuously ribbed, slightly swollen at base, exterior glabrous; lobes 5, ovate-oblong, 2-4 × ca. 2 mm, apex rounded or rarely truncate, usually with red, reticulate veins. Stamens 10, lower whorl inserted above middle of calyx tube, upper whorl in throat; filaments very short; anthers yellow, linear-ellipsoid, ca. 1.5 mm; upper ones slightly exserted from calyx tube. Disk developed on one side, linear, ca. 1.8 × 0.2 mm, apex slightly 2-lobed. Ovary ellipsoid, ca. 2 × 1.2 mm, sessile, yellow silky-pubescent distally; style short; stigma capitate, apex sparsely yellow pubescent. Drupe conic, ca. 5 × 2 mm, grayish white pubescent at apex or upper part, enclosed in persistent calyx. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jul-Sep. 2n = 18*.
Sunny and dry slopes, sandy places; 2600-4200 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia].
