Bulb ovoid, slightly elongate apically, 2--3.5 cm in diam.; tunic brown, papery, appressed hairy inside or glabrous at middle. Stem 10--30(--35) cm, distally pubescent. Leaves usually 3 or 4, grayish green, ovate to lanceolate, varying in size, not overtopping flower, 0.6--3(--5) cm wide, glabrous or ± pubescent, margin sometimes crisped. Flower solitary. Tepals yellow, abaxially tinged with greenish purple-red or pink, oblong to oblong-rhomboidal, 2--3.5 × 0.5--2 cm. Stamens glabrous, attenuate from base. Style very short. Capsule broadly ellipsoid, 2.5--4 × 1.5--2 cm. Fl. May, fr. Jun--Jul. 2 n = 24.

Thickets, sunny slopes; 1300--2600 m. NW Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Russia (W Siberia)].