Cerastium amurense Ohwi; C. ciliatum Ohwi; C. ciliatum var. acutifolium (Franchet) Handel-Mazzetti; C. ciliatum var. brevifolium (Franchet) Handel-Mazzetti; C. rigidum Ledebour (1815), not (Scopoli) Vitman (1789); C. rubescens Mattfeld; C. vulgatum Linnaeus var. acutifolium Franchet; C. vulgatum var. brevifolium Franchet.

Herbs perennial, 15--55 cm tall. Stems caespitose or simple, suberect, villous, distally both villous and glandular pubescent. Basal leaves spatulate; cauline leaves ovate-lanceolate, 1--3 × 0.4--1.1 cm, base rounded or cuneate, apex obtuse or acute. Cyme spreading; bracts leaflike. Pedicel slender, 1--3.5 cm, densely pubescent and glandular pubescent, recurved in fruit. Sepals oblong-lanceolate, ca. 5 mm, pubescent, margin broadly membranous. Petals oblong or obovate, 1.5--2 × as long as sepals, base ciliate, apex 2-lobed. Stamens sparsely villous. Styles 5. Capsule cylindric, ca. 2 × as long as calyx. Seeds brown, compressed globose, tuberculate. Fl. May--Aug, fr. Jul--Sep.

Forest margins, mountain valleys, hillsides and summits, meadows; 1200--3800 m. Gansu, Henan, S Jilin (Changbai Shan), Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [N Korea, E Russia].