Waldheimia tridactylites Kar. & Kir in Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 15: 126. 1842; Tsiang & Li, Icon. Corm. Sin. 4: 503. fig. 6419. 1975; Podlech in Rech. f., l.c. t. 150. 1986.

Perennial, glabrous herb with up to 6 cm tall, caespitose, monocephalous shoots from profusely branched, ± woody, prostrate-procumbent rhizome. Leaves subsessile, with basally winged petiole, obovate-spathulate, 10 – 20 mm long, 5 – 10 mm broad, glabrous on both sides, narrowly cuneate to the somewhat winged petiole, palmately 3 (-5)-lobed, lobes oblong, 2 – 3 mm long, ± obtuse. Capitula solitary terminal, 2.5 – 3.5 cm across, sessile or on very short glabrous peduncles. Involucre narrowly to broadly napiform, 10 – 20 mm across, phyllaries glabrous outside, broadly dark-brown membranous margined, outer ovate-oblong to oblong, 6 – 7 mm long, inner ones narrowly oblong, 7 – 8 mm long, obtuse. Ray-florets 8-15, sterile, with oblong-elliptic, 8 – 12 x 3 – 4 mm, pink to whitish-pink or purplish-pink, 2-3-fid ligules. Disc-florets yellow, with 3.5 – 4.5 mm long, 5-toothed, corolla tube. Cypselas oblong-obconical, 3 – 3.5 mm long, glabrous, brown. Pappus bristly, twice as long as cypselas, mostly brownish or pink-tinged brown, reduced in outermost disc-cypselas.

Fl. Per.: July-August.

Type: Alatau ad fonts fl. Sarchan, G. S. Karelin & I. P. Kirilow 1593 (M).

Grows in sandy-gravel among rock crevices on edges of streams near the glaciers in the alpine zone from 3200 to 5000 m; Distribution: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mongolia, China, Uzbekistan, and Kazakistan.