Krascheninikovia heterantha Maximowicz, Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Pétersbourg 18: 376. 1873; K. eritrichoides Diels; K. maximowicziana Franchet & Savatier; Pseudostellaria eritrichoides (Diels) Ohwi; P. maximowicziana (Franchet & Savatier) Pax.

Root tubers fusiform. Stems solitary, erect, 8--15 cm tall, branched at base, with 2 lines of hairs. Proximal middle leaves oblanceolate, base attenuate into a petiole, apex acute; distal middle leaves shortly petiolate, ovate-oblong, 2--2.5 × 0.8--1.2 cm, base sparsely ciliate. Chasmogamic flowers terminal or axillary; pedicel 3--3.5 cm, pilose; sepals 5, green, lanceolate, 3--4 mm, abaxially pilose, margin ciliate; petals 5, oblong-oblanceolate, longer than sepals, apically obtuse or acute; stamens 10, slightly shorter than petals, anthers purple; styles 2 or 3. Cleistogamic flowers axillary at stem base; pedicel short; sepals 4, lanceolate, 2--3 mm; petals absent; stamens 4 or 5; styles very short; stigma 2-lobed. Capsule ovoid, 3.5--4 mm, slightly longer than sepals, 4-valved. Seeds reniform, slightly compressed, tuberculate. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Jul--Aug.

Mountain forests, scrublands, hillside grasslands; 1400--4100 m. Anhui, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, SW Nei Mongol (Helan Shan), Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi (Taibai Shan), Shanxi, Sichuan, Xizang [Japan, Russia].