Lappula sinaica (A. de Candolle) Ascherson & Schweinfurth var. occultata (Popov) Pavlov.

Herbs annual. Stems erect, frequently branched above, 30-40 cm tall, gray strigose. Basal leaves narrowly spatulate to oblanceolate, 3-7 cm × 3-5 mm, sparsely short gray strigose, base attenuate into a long petiole, apex obtuse; stem leaves sessile, linear-lanceolate to oblong, sometimes flexed along midvein. Inflorescences to 7-18 cm in fruit; bracts linear, shorter than nutlets. Fruiting pedicel erect, 2-5 mm. Calyx lobes erect, linear, 3-3.5 mm, to 4 mm in fruit, enclosing nutlets. Corolla light blue; tube slightly longer than calyx; throat appendages trapeziform, 0.6-0.8 mm; limb 5-parted; lobes spreading horizontally, 5-6 mm wide. Gynobase surpassing nutlets by ca. 0.5 mm. Fruit 2.5-3 mm, apex truncate; nutlets ovoid, shiny; disc oblong-ovate, densely rounded granulose, center line keeled, margin prominent and forming a narrow rib; lateral surfaces granular.

Exposed, rocky slopes; ca. 1400 m. Xinjiang (Yuli Xian) [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan].