Rhizomes dark brown, knobbly, woody. Roots tough. Leaves grayish green, linear, twisted, 20--60 cm × 1.5--2 mm, midvein absent, base surrounded by reddish brown, persistent sheaths. Flowering stems not emerging above ground; spathes 3 or 4, lanceolate, 5--10 cm × 8--10 mm, 2- or 3-flowered, apex long acuminate. Flowers pale violet, 4--7 cm in diam.; pedicel slender, 3--4 mm. Perianth tube filiform, 4.5--8 cm; outer segments white tinged yellow at center, veined darker, violet at margin, spatulate, 4.5--6 × ca. 1.5 cm, papillose along midvein; inner segments erect, oblanceolate, ca. 5 cm × 5--9 mm. Stamens ca. 3 cm. Ovary cylindric, 7--12 × ca. 2 mm. Style branches ca. 4 cm × 4--5 mm. Capsule ovoid, 3.2--4.5 × 1.2--1.8 cm, apex shortly beaked. Fl. Apr--May, fr. Aug--Sep. 2 n = 14*.

Grassy slopes, fixed dunes, sandy and gravelly soil; 1300--3700 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Xizang [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia].