Plants 5-30 cm tall. Branches alternate, basal ones subopposite, gray-green, smooth or densely papillate, not arachnoid hairy when young. Leaves 4-12 × 1.5-2 mm, apex aristate awned, awn sometimes deciduous. Flowers usually 4-6 per glomerule. Perianth segments lanceolate, membranous, abaxially 1-veined; abaxial wing semiorbicular, subequal, membranous, distinctly veined, sometimes not developed and then perianth thickened, becoming leathery. Stamens usually 2. Seed vertical. Fl. and fr. Jul-Sep.

Gobi desert, foothills, arid slopes. W Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Xizang [Mongolia, Russia (S Siberia); C Asia; naturalized and highly invasive in SW North America].