Chenopodium bryoniifolium Bunge var. kapelleriae Aellen ex Iljin.

Herbs annual, 10-30 cm tall, farinose throughout. Stem usually prostrate or obliquely spreading, much branched, sometimes branched only from base. Petiole slender, 0.4-1 cm; leaf blade gray-green, ovate to ovate-triangular, usually 0.5-1.5 × 0.4-1.2 cm, farinose on both surfaces, base broadly cuneate, margin entire or 3-lobed, apex subobtuse or acute; lateral lobes attached near base of leaf blade, apex obtuse. Glomerules forming short spikes on axillary branchlets. Perianth segments (4 or)5, obovate-linear to oblong, not keeled, abaxially densely farinose. Filaments slightly shorter than perianth; anthers broadly oblong. Style obscure; stigmas 2, filiform. Utricle depressed. Seed horizontal, rarely oblique, black, sublustrous, lenticular, sometimes depressed ovoid, 0.8-1.2 mm in diam., subsmooth or slightly pitted. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

The closely related, C Asian Chenopodium pamiricum Iljin (in Shishkin, Fl. URSS 6: 873. 1936) may be expected to occur in the mountains of W China. Probably some Chinese records of C. iljinii refer to that species.

Valley terraces, slopes, drier grasslands; 2000-4000 m. W Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai (Qilian Shan), NW Sichuan, Xinjiang [Kazakhstan].