Herbs perennial, 15--30 cm tall. Stems numerous, erect, simple or branched above, glabrous. Leaves acicular, 2--4(--6) cm × 0.3--1 mm, base connate into a sheath; basal leaves clustered. Flowers 1--3, terminal, fragrant; pedicel 1--3 cm; bracts 4, ovate or elliptic (outer pair) or obovate (inner pair), 1/4--1/3 as long as calyx, leathery, apex sharply pointed. Calyx cylindric, 2--2.5 cm × 3--5 mm; teeth lanceolate, apex sharply pointed. Petals white; limb elliptic or obovate, 1.2--1.5 cm, adaxially hairy, fimbriate for ca. 1/3 its length, fimbriae linear. Capsule cylindric, subequaling calyx. Seeds ca. 2 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun--Aug.

Rocky mountain slopes, floodlands, deserts; 500--1300 m. N Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Russia (W Siberia); E Europe].