Arenaria sericea Seringe in de Candolle, Prodr. 1: 414. 1824.

Herbs perennial, diffuse, small, sericeous, with stolons 10--35 cm, rooting at nodes. Stems numerous, ascending, branched, slender, 5--10 cm. Leaves sessile, lanceolate, ca. 1.5 cm × 1.5--3.5 mm, lower leaves obtuse at apex, upper leaves acute. Flowers solitary, terminal or borne in distal leaf axils; bracts leaflike. Pedicel 1.4--2 cm, hairlike. Calyx broadly campanulate, 4--5 × 3.5--4 mm, glandular pubescent, lobed for ca. 1/2 its length; lobes ovate, margin membranous, apex obtuse. Petals abaxially lilac, adaxially white, oblanceolate to obovate, 2.5--3 × as long as calyx. Stamens shorter than petals. Ovary ovoid, 4--5 mm. Styles incurved, long. Capsule equaling calyx. Seeds black, reniform, ca. 1.3 mm, flat tuberculate. Fl. Jun--Aug, fr. Jul--Aug.

Coniferous forests, forest margins, hill ridge grasslands; 1600--2400 m. N Xinjiang (Altay Shan) [Kazakhstan, N Mongolia, Russia (Siberia)].