Herbs perennial, 30--80 cm tall. Roots stout. Stems solitary, rarely sparingly caespitose, erect, diffusely many branched, glabrous or proximally glandular pubescent. Leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 2--5 cm × 2.5--7 mm, glabrous, midvein prominent, apex acuminate. Thyrse profusely forked, numerous flowered; bracts triangular, apex acute. Flowers small; pedicel slender, 2--6 mm, glabrous. Calyx prominently purple veined, broadly campanulate, 1.5--2 mm; lobes ovate, margin scarious, apex obtuse. Petals pale reddish or white, spatulate, ca. 3 × 1 mm, apex truncate or obtuse. Filaments linear, flat, subequaling petals; anthers globose. Ovary ovoid, ca. 1 mm. Styles slender. Capsule globose, slightly longer than calyx. Seeds brown-red, globose, ca. 1 mm, obtusely tuberculate. Fl. Jun--Aug, fr. Aug--Sep.

The species is used medicinally and cultivated as an ornamental.

Grasslands, rocky slopes, fixed dunes, floodlands, fields; 1100--1500 m. N and W Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, W Mongolia, Russia (Siberia)].