Seseli iliense Lipsky in B. Fedtschenko, Pl. Turkest. 616. 1915; S. altissimum Popov; S. fedtschenkoanum Regel & Schmalhausen var. iliense Regel & Schmalhausen; S. vaillantii H. de Boissieu.

Plants 100–200 cm. Taproot to 2 cm thick, caudex simple. Stem branched from base, solid, grooved, densely minutely pubescent, base 1–2 cm thick. Petioles densely pubescent, sheaths scarious-margined; blade triangular-ovate, 40–50 × 6–10 cm, 2–3-pinnatisect; ultimate segments linear, 10–40 × 0.5–1 mm, margins reflexed. Synflorescence paniculate; umbels 2–4 cm across; bracts 5–10, white, ovate-lanceolate, 3–5 × 1–1.2 mm, pubescent; rays 10–15(–20), 1–2 cm, slightly unequal, pubescent; bracteoles 5–10, ovate-lanceolate, 1.5–4(–15) × 0.6–0.7 mm, scarious-margined, abaxially densely pubescent; umbellules 10–20-flowered, subcapitate, flowers almost sessile. Calyx teeth short-triangular or subulate, 0.2–0.5 mm, pubescent. Petals white, abaxially pubescent. Fruit oblong or ellipsoid, slightly dorsally compressed, 2.8–4 × 0.6–0.7 mm, densely pubescent; ribs filiform; vittae 1 in each furrow, 2 on commissure. Fl. and fr. Jun–Sep.

This species is used in Xinjiang as a regional substitute for the traditional Chinese medicine “fang feng” (Saposhnikovia divaricata).

Stony mountain slopes, valleys; 1000–2100 m. Xinjiang (Ili, Urumqi) [Kazakhstan, Mongolia].