Lychnis sordida Karelin & Kirilov, Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 15: 170. 1842, not Silene sordida Huber-Morath & Reese (1943); Melandrium sordidum (Karelin & Kirilov) Rohrbach; ?M. verrucosoalatum Y. Z. Zhao & P. Ma.

Herbs 30--45 cm tall. Rootstock conical, multicrowned. Stems several, rarely solitary, erect, basally nearly glabrous, apically densely glandular pubescent. Basal leaves and proximal cauline leaves oblanceolate, 5--12 cm × 5--11 mm, both surfaces sparsely hairy, margin glandular ciliate, midvein prominent, base attenuate into petiole, apex acuminate; cauline leaves 2--5 pairs, narrowly lanceolate, base attenuate into short petiole or sessile, apex acute. Flowers (1--)2--7, slightly nutant or erect. Pedicel 5--15 mm, slender, shortly glandular. Calyx narrowly campanulate, 1.7--2.3 cm × 8--10 mm, open at apex; longitudinal veins dark violet, robust, shortly glandular hairy. Androgynophore ca. 4 mm, shortly hairy. Petals dark violet; claws exserted beyond calyx by ca. 2 mm, cuneate, with obtuse auricles, glabrous (or nearly so) at base, limbs deeply bifid; lobes orbicular, with irregular round teeth at apex, narrowly 1-toothed on two sides; coronal scales small, margin crenulate. Styles 5, exserted. Capsule globose-ovoid, ca. 1.5 cm. Seeds flat. Fl. Jul.

Mountain grasslands; ca. 3000 m. W Xinjiang [Kazakhstan].