Shrubs, 2-3(-4) m tall. Branches lax. Leaves lanceolate, 2-6 × 0.5-1 mm, base semiamplexicaul, auriculate. Racemes lateral in branches of previous year, solitary, 6-8(-12) cm × ca. 5 mm; bracts ovate-lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, 1.5-2 mm, thinly membranous, apex acuminate. Pedicels 1.2-2 mm. Flowers mostly 5-merous, mixed with numerous 4-merous flowers, rarely mostly 4-merous mixed with numerous 5-merous flowers. Calyx slightly united at base; sepals ovate-orbicular, ca. 1 × 0.5 mm, margin membranous, apex acuminate. Petals purplish or pink, ovate-oblong, ca. 2 × 1-1.5 mm, apex obtuse, deciduous after anthesis. Disk purple-brown, 5-lobed; lobes obtuse or retuse. Stamens 5; filaments to 3 mm, mostly exceeding corolla, slender, inserted between disk lobes, or at apex of disk lobes; disk of 4-merous flowers 4-lobed. Filaments inserted at apex of disk lobes. Ovary narrowly conic; styles 3; stigmas capitate. Capsule conic; seeds 25-30. Fl. Apr-May.

● River banks, lakesides, margins of sand dunes in desert regions. Gansu, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Xinjiang.