Vern.: Sin Phunar, Somerder Phool.

Waldheimia glabra (Decne.) Regel in Acta Horti Petrop. 6: 310. 1879 – excl. W. tridactylites Kar. & Kir.; R.R.Stewart, l. c. 800; Tzvelev in Schischk. & Bobrov, Fl. USSR 26: 258. 2000 (Engl. transl.); W. tridactylites Kar. & Kir. subsp. glabra (Decne.) Podlech in Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml. München 13: 497. 1977; W. tridactylites sensu Weibel in Candollea 16: 193. 1958 (non Kar. & Kir, 1842).

Perennial, with up to 5 cm tall numerous caespitose monocephalous twigs bearing brownish sheaths of old leaves towards the base, densely leafy above. Rhizome horizontally creeping, ± glabrous. Leaves subsessile with basally ±winged peioles, upper arachnoid hairy, lower almost glabrous, spathulate, 10-15 mm long, 5-8 mm wide, palmately 3 (-5)-lobed, lobes oblong, 1.5 – 2 mm long, obtuse. Capitula solitary, tomentose below the involucre, 1.8 – 2.5 (-3) cm across, on very short sparsely tomentose peduncles. Involucre broadly napiform or broad bowl-shaped, 10-15 mm broad, phyllaries oblong, 3.5 –4.5 mm long, broadly brown-margined, often sparsely hairy toward the obtuse apices. Ray-florets 10 – 15, sterile, with 8 – 10 (-12) x 3 – 4 mm, pink or whitish-pink to almost white, apically 3-fid limb. Disc-florets numerous, fertile, with 3.5 – 4.5 mm long, 5-lobed corolla tube. Cypselas oblong, 2.5 – 3 mm long, glabrous, dark brown. Pappus pinkish-brown, slightly more than twice as long as cypselas.

Fl. Per.: July-September.

Type: Himalaya, V. Jacquemont s. n (P).

A species of subalpine zone, commonly occurs on slopes among small stones near glaciers and in rock crevices in sandy-loam soils above 3000 m in Kashmir, Chitral, Gilgit and Baltistan; Distribution: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and China.

The plant is dried, ground and used by mixing it with oil to itching skin and other skin diseases. Decoction of flowers and leaves is used as a vermifuge.