Herbs annual, 15-50 cm tall. Stem erect; branches usually gray-green, long, straight, and glabrous, sometimes white striate and rough. Leaves gray-green, semiterete, 0.5-1.5 cm × 1.5-2 mm, glabrous, base expanded, slightly decurrent, margin membranous, apex mucronate. Flowers solitary throughout plant; bracts narrowly ovate, subequaling or longer than bractlets, abaxially white keeled, margin membranous at base, apex extended, mucronate; bractlets ovate-lanceolate, subequaling perianth, apex mucronate. Perianth (including wings) 5-7 mm in diam. in fruit; segments narrowly ovate, submembranous, hardened in fruit, abaxially winged from middle, perianth segments above wing connivent with others and forming a cone, narrowly lanceolate, submembranous, abaxially green fleshy keeled, apex acute, long mucronate; 3 wings semiorbicular or suborbicular; other 2 wings yellow-brown, obovate, with veins united at base. Style very short; stigmas filiform, 2-3 × as long as style. Seed horizontal. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.

Saline-alkaline meadows, Gobi desert. N Xinjiang [Mongolia, Russia (Altay, N Caucasus, SE European part); C Asia, SE Europe (SE Ukraine)].