Bulb solitary, ovoid-cylindric, 2--3 cm in diam.; tunic pale brown to brown, hard, leathery, entire. Leaves broadly linear, shorter than scape, 5--20 mm wide, gradually attenuate toward apex. Scape 60--100 cm, terete, covered with leaf sheaths for ca. 1/2 its length. Spathe 1- or 2-valved, persistent; beak short. Umbel globose, densely many flowered. Pedicels subequal, 2--4 × as long as perianth, bracteolate. Perianth pale yellow to greenish yellow; outer segments oblong to oblong-ovate, 4--5 × 1.5--2 mm; inner ones ovate, 4.5--5.5 × 2--2.5 mm. Filaments subulate, equal, ca. 1.5 × as long as perianth segments, connate at base and adnate to perianth segments. Ovary ovoid, with concave nectaries covered by hoodlike projections at base. Style exserted. Fl. and fr. Jun--Jul. 2 n = 16.

Forests, meadows. NW Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia; E Europe].