Herbs perennial, green to glaucous, to 60 cm tall or more. Stems caespitose, erect, distally branched, glabrous, large jointed. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 5--10 cm × 3--5 mm, sometimes glabrescent, midvein prominent, base connate into a sheath, apex sharply pointed. Flowers 1 or 2, terminal, sometimes axillary; bracts 4 or 6, elliptic to broadly ovate or obovate, 6--10 × 4--5 mm, ca. 1/4 as long as calyx, apex subulate or long acuminate. Calyx usually reddish purple, cylindric, 2.5--3 cm × 3--7 mm; teeth lanceolate, 4--5 mm. Petals 4--5 cm; claw 1.5--3 cm, surrounded by calyx tube; limb broadly obovate, 2--3 cm, fimbriate for at least 1/2 its length, throat bearded. Stamens and styles slightly exserted. Capsule cylindric, equaling or slightly longer than calyx, 4-toothed. Seeds black, glossy, compressed ovoid, ca. 2 mm. Fl. Jun--Sep, fr. Aug--Oct.

Wooded hills, forest openings and margins, grassy hillsides, meadows, mountain valley streams, river banks; 400--3700 m. Anhui, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Zhejiang [Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, N and W Mongolia, Russia (Far East, Siberia); Europe].