Herbs perennial, 30--60 cm tall. Rhizomes ropelike, bearing flowering stems and sterile dwarf shoots. Stems solitary or caespitose, erect, simple. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 4--6 cm × 2--4 mm, base connate into a 2--4 mm sheath, margin slightly uneven, apex sharply pointed. Flowers 1--4; bracts 4, broadly ovate, 1/4--1/3 as long as calyx, margin narrowly membranous, apex mucronate, sometimes subtruncate. Calyx reddish purple, cylindric, 2.3--2.5 cm × 4--5 mm; teeth triangular, margin ciliate. Petals deep rose, 2.5--3 × as long as calyx; claw usually longer than (rarely equaling) calyx; limb obovate or broadly ovate, rarely oblong, bearded, fimbriate for ca. 2/5 its length. Capsule cylindric, longer than calyx, 4-toothed. Fl. Jun--Jul, fr. Aug.

Grassy mountain slopes; 1500--3300 m. N Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, W Mongolia].