Bulb solitary or clustered, subcylindric, ca. 1.5 cm in diam.; tunic red-brown, lustrous, leathery, splitting. Leaves linear, shorter than scape, 2--6 mm wide, flat, smooth. Scape 30--90 cm, terete, covered with leaf sheaths for ca. 1/2 its length. Spathe 1-valved, persistent or deciduous. Umbel hemispheric to globose, densely many flowered. Pedicels subequal, 1.5--2 × as long as perianth, ebracteolate. Perianth pale red to purple-red; outer segments lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, 4--4.5 × 1.1--1.2 mm; inner ones narrowly oblong-elliptic, 4.6--5.5 × 1.3--1.6 mm. Filaments subulate, 1.25--1.5 × as long as perianth segments, connate at base and adnate to perianth segments; inner ones entire or 1-toothed on each side at base. Ovary obovoid to subglobose, with concave nectaries at base. Style exserted. Fl. Aug.

Meadows, dry pastures, high plains, mountain slopes; 1100--2700 m. N and W Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan].