Myricaria germanica (Linnaeus) Desvaux var. squamosa (Desvaux) Maximowicz.

Shrubs erect, 1-5 m tall, much branched in upper part. Old branches purple-brown, red-brown, or gray-brown; branches of current year yellowish green to red-brown. Leaves lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, oblong, or narrowly ovate, 1.5-5(-10) × 0.5-2 mm, base slightly enlarged, margin narrowly membranous, apex obtuse or acute. Racemes lateral on old branches, solitary or several clustered in axils, dense before anthesis, later elongating and lax, with many imbricate scales at base; scales broadly ovate or elliptic, submembranous; bracts elliptic, broadly ovate, or obovate-oblong, 4-6(-8) × 3-4 mm, equaling or exceeding calyx, rarely shorter than calyx, base narrow, acuminate, margin broadly membranous or submembranous, apex obtuse or acute. Pedicels 2-3 mm. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, oblong, or narrowly elliptic, 2-4 × 0.5-1 mm, margin broadly or narrowly membranous, apex acute or obtuse. Petals purple-red or pink, obovate or narrowly elliptic, 4-5 × ca. 2 mm, base narrow, apex obtuse, often incurved. Filaments ca. 2/3 united. Ovary conic, 3-5 mm. Capsule conic, ca. 1 cm. Seeds narrowly elliptic or narrowly obovate, ca. 1 mm, apex awned; awns more than 1/2 white villous. Fl. and fr. May-Aug. 2n = 24.

Riversides in mountains, sandy places at lakesides; 2400-4600 m. Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang [Afghanistan, India, ?Nepal, Pakistan; C Asia].