Convolvulus fruticosus Pallas f. tianschanica Palibin; C. spinifer M. Popov.

Subshrubs forming ± compact cushions, silvery sericeous, 4-10(-15) cm tall. Stems densely branched; twigs hard, spinescent; flowering branches more elongate, not spinescent. Leaves sessile, linear, rarely oblanceolate, 0.5-2 cm X 1-4 mm, base attenuate, apex rounded. Pedicel 2-5 mm. Flowers 2-6, terminal, rarely solitary, paired spines absent. Sepals elliptic or oblong-obovate, 5-8 mm, abaxially dull yellow tomentose-villous, apex short acuminate. Corolla pink, funnelform, 1.5-2.5 cm, midpetaline bands densely pubescent; limb shallowly 5-lobed. Stamens unequal; filaments dilated basally. Ovary pubescent. Stigmas linear. Capsule globose, 4-6 mm, pubescent apically. Seeds ovoid, glabrous. Fl. May-Jul.

Sa'ad (l.c., p. 77) used Convolvulus spinifer M. Popov for this distinctive species, but Grigor'ev (Fl. URSS 19: 15. 1953) placed this name in synonymy with C. tragacanthoides Turczaninow, the earlier name.

Dry pebbly and stony soils, deserts, rock crevices. Gansu, Hebei, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan]