Stipa caragana Trinius, Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Pétersbourg, Sér. 6, Sci. Math. 1: 74. 1831; Lasiagrostis caragana (Trinius) Trinius & Ruprecht; Oryzopsis asiatica Mez.

Perennial, densely tufted; roots sometimes coated in sand. Culms erect, 50–90 cm tall, 1.5–3 mm in diam., 3–5-noded. Leaf sheaths shorter than internodes, smooth or scabrid; leaf blades gray-green, flat or convolute and setaceous, 15–30 cm, 1–2.5 mm wide, abaxial surface smooth except toward apex;ligule truncate, 0.5–1 mm. Panicle open, lax, 15–30 cm; branches 2–5 per node, ascending to divaricate, 5–13 cm, bare in lower part, spikelets crowded above. Spikelets 4.2–5.5 mm, pale green; glumes subequal, elliptic, membranous becoming hyaline upward, lower 1–3-veined, upper 3-veined, apex acute; callus obtuse, 0.2–0.3 mm; lemma narrowly elliptic, 3–4 mm, densely appressed-pilose, apex minutely 2-toothed; awn caducous, 0.7–1.2 cm, flexuous or almost straight, indistinctly twisted below, scabrid. Anthers 1.5–2 mm, apex bearded or glabrous. Fl. and fr. Jun–Aug.

Dry rocky or stony slopes; 900–1200 m. Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan; SW Asia (Caucasus, Iran, E Turkey)].