Annual stemless herb, up to 12 cm tall. Leaves few to many in rosettes, erect to decumbent; lamina 5-10 cm long, thin, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate to ovate, sparsely irregularly denticulate, teeth obtuse, apices obtuse, when young thinly villose, later on glabrous or sparsely hairy, 5-7 nerved, narrowed below into short distinct petiole; petioles 2-3 cm long, at the base broadly dilated, vaginate. Scape 6-15 cm long, arched. Spikes nearly equalling the peduncle, narrow, dense above, below with lax, distant flowers. Bracts shorter than the calyx, concave, triangular ovate, apices sometimes slightly membranous. Sepals 2 mm long, slightly concave, anterior ones narrow obovate, elliptic to broad elliptic, middle ones narrow with distinct grooves. Corolla tube equal to the calyx, lobes small, elliptic to ovate, 1/2 mm to little longer, obtuse to truncate-obtuse, margins incised. Anthers little exserted. Capsule conically attenuated, nearly twice as long as the calyx. Seeds 5, 1.5 mm long, purplish brown, compressed.

Fl.Per: June-August.

Type: Hort. Berol, Willdenow (B) not seen.

Distribution: From east Ural through Sibiria up to Amur and Ussur region, Sakhalin, Manchuria, Transbaikalia, Mongolia, Altai, Dzung Tarbagate, Tien Shan, Sinkiang, Tibet, Afghanistan and the mountains of Western Himalaya eastwards to China and Japan.