Aconogonon hookeri (Meisner) H. Hara; Persicaria acaulis Gross; P. hookeri (Meisner) Ronse Decraene; Polygonum acaule J. D. Hooker (1885), not Boissier (1879); Rheum hirsutifolium Losinskaja; R. hirsutum Maximowicz ex Franchet; R. nanum Lingelsheim ex Limpricht (1922), not Sievers ex Pallas (1796).

Herbs perennial, dioecious. Rhizomes robust, ligneous. Stems numerous from rhizome, erect, 10-20(-30) cm tall, sparsely hirsute, simple. Petiole 5-10 mm; leaf blade of basal leaves narrowly elliptic or spatulate, 5-10 × 1.5-3 cm, both surfaces hirsute, abaxially densely hirsute along midvein, base narrowly cuneate, margin entire, densely ciliate, apex rounded; stem leaves smaller; ocrea tubular, membranous, densely hirsute, oblique at apex. Inflorescence terminal, paniculate, sparsely branched; rachis and branches hirsute; bracts narrowly lanceolate, each 1-flowered. Pedicel articulate. Flowers unisexual. Female flower: perianth purple-red, 5-parted, margin yellow-green; tepals oblong, 2-3 mm, veined, apex rounded, unequal. Styles 3; stigmas capitate. Male flower: stamens 8, included; anthers red-purple. Achenes slightly exceeding persistent perianth, brown, shiny, broadly ovoid, trigonous, 2.5-3 mm, constricted at base, apex acute. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.

The closely related Aconogonon rhombitepalum S. P. Hong (Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 46: 361. 1990) differs in hermaphroditic flowers with slightly longer pedicels and rhomboid, longer, acute tepals.

Grassy slopes, thickets in valleys, alpine meadows; 3500-5000 m. Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, Sikkim].