Perennial herb, 15-40 cm long, decumbent or suberect, much branched, densely villous to almost glabrous with simple rarely forked hairs, leafy. Leaves very variable in size, shape and pubescence, ± obovate-oblong, 1-5 cm long, (3-) 5-20 (-25) mm broad, usually ± 3 (-5)-toothed towards the apex, thickish, 3-veined. Racemes 10-25-flowered, up to 8 cm long in fruit. Flowers 5-7 mm across, white with purple base or turning mauve or yellowish when dried, sometimes with lilac tinge; pedicels up to 10 mm long in fruit, ascending or erect. Sepals 3-3.5 mm long. Petals 5-6 mm long. Stamens c. 3: 3.5 mm long. Siliquae broadly linear to oblong-ovate, 10-30 mm long, 3-4 mm broad, compressed, rarely subcontorted, glabrous or hairy; valves with a distinct mid-vein; stigma depressed subsessile, sub-bilobed; septum usually complete, thinnest in the middle; seeds 5-10 in each locule, c. 2 mm long; radicle incumbent.

Fl. Per.: June-July.

Type: W. Tibet, jacquemont (P, K).

Distribution: C. Asia, Himalayas, Tibet, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A very variable species with regards to leaves and hairiness; flowers white to mauve, often with purple bases (and perhaps never pure yellow as often men¬tioned before). Field notes given by Stainton from Chitral (cited above) and Nepal [2122 (BM)] clearly say that the flowers are white with purple bases, as is the case with other species usually.