Herbs annual, 10-20 cm tall, densely villous throughout except perianth. Stem much branched; branches crowded, green striate, ribbed. Leaves terete, 0.3-1.5 cm × 0.5-1 mm, base attenuate, apex acute or obtuse. Flowers bisexual, usually 1-3 per glomerule, these borne throughout branches in leaf axils. Perianth discoid, 5-lobed, glabrous; winglike appendages obovate to linear, membranous, usually with purple-red veins, margin entire. Filaments slightly exserted; anthers 0.3-0.4 mm. Style very short; stigmas 2, exserted, recurved, plumose. Utricle broadly ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm; pericarp membranous. Seed black-brown; embryo dark green; perisperm coherent. Fl. Aug, fr. Sep-Oct.

Riversides, wastelands. NE Xinjiang [W Mongolia, Russia (SW Siberia)].