Plants 0.5–1.5 m, strongly onion-scented. Stem solitary, stout, subglabrous, paniculate-branched, lower branches alternate, upper branches verticillate. Leaf blade ovate in outline, ternate-2-pinnatisect; ultimate segments oblong, proximally parted, distally lobed or toothed, ca. 20 mm, adaxially glabrous, abaxially puberulent, base decurrent, irregular crenate. Umbels 6–10 cm across; terminal peduncle 3–5 cm, lateral peduncles 6–15 cm, exceeding terminal; bracts absent; rays 5–18(–31), unequal; bracteoles lanceolate, deciduous; umbellules 7–21-flowered. Petals abaxially sparsely pubescent. Stylopodium conic, base dilated, margins shallowly lobed; styles elongate and reflexed. Fruit ellipsoid, 12–16 × 6–8 mm; vittae 4–5 in each furrow, unequal, 10–12 on commissure. Fl. and fr. Apr–Jun.

This species is used in Xinjiang as a regional substitute for the traditional Chinese medicine “a wei” (Ferula assafoetida Linnaeus).

Valley sides at desert margins; ca. 700 m. NC Xinjiang (Fukang).