Aster poncinsii Franchet, Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. (Paris) 2: 345. 1896; Erigeron poncinsii (Franchet) Botschantzev; Psychrogeton andryaloides (Candolle) Novopokrovsky ex Krascheninnikov var. poncinsii (Franchet) Grierson.

Herbs, perennial, 3-19 cm tall; rhizome thickly woody, branched. Stems scapiform, erect or ascending, simple, densely to sparsely lanate, partly glabrescent, sessile or short-stipitate glandular. Leaves: surfaces sparsely or densely lanate to tomentose, short-stipitate or sessile glandular; basal petiolate, blade oblanceolate to obovate or spatulate, 1-6 × 0.3-1.5 cm, margin remotely coarsely serrate or slightly repand, rarely entire, apex acute to obtuse; cauline 3-5, sessile or shortly petiolate, blade oblanceolate to linear. Capitula 1.5-2.4 cm in diam., solitary. Phyllaries 2- or 3-seriate, linear-lanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, outer partly green or gray-green, abaxially densely to sparsely white tomentose or lanate, apex acute to acuminate, inner 6.5-8 × ca. 1 mm. Ray florets 4.4-5.4 mm, longer than pappus, tube 2.9-3.6 mm, sparsely hairy, lamina golden yellow, becoming reddish or purplish after anthesis, narrowly obovate to oblanceolate, 1.3-3.5 × 0.7-1.2 mm, apex 3-denticulate; disk florets narrowly funnelform, appressed hairy, tube 1.7-1.8 mm, limb 3-3.5 mm, lobes 0.3-0.5 mm. Achenes (ray florets) brown, ribs straw-colored, narrowly oblong to oblanceoloid, 3.6-3.8 mm, ± densely strigose. Pappus 2-seriate, yellowish white, 2.6-4.6 mm.

Valleys; 3000-4600 m. Xinjiang, W Xizang [Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan; SW Asia (Iran)].