Herbs short. Roots stout, ca. 3.5 cm in diam.; rhizome with remaining ocrea at apex. Petiole of basal leaf usually purple-red, short, 2-5 cm, compressed, glabrous or muricate; leaf blade purple-red abaxially, ovate to triangular-ovate, 5-18 × 5-9 cm, leathery, abaxially papilliferous, adaxially glabrous, basal veins 5, raised abaxially, base rounded or subcordate, margin slightly sinuolate, apex acute. Panicle spiciform; rachis to 10 cm from apex of rhizome, shorter than leaves. Pedicel short, 1.5-2 mm, jointed below middle. Flowers dense. Tepals yellow-white, elliptic, outer 3 smaller, ca. 1 mm. Stamens 7-9, subequal to perianth. Ovary obovoid-ellipsoid; style short; stigma inflated. Fruit broadly ovoid, 7.5-8.5 × 7-8 mm, base subcordate, apex obtuse or retuse, wings ca. 2.5 mm wide, with longitudinal veins near middle. Seeds ovoid. Fl. Jun, fr. Jul-Aug.

Slopes; 2900-4200 m. Qinghai, Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan].