Thymus altaicus Sergievskaja.

Stems trailing to ascending; vegetative shoots ascending or trailing, pubescent; fertile branches ascending, mostly 4-8 cm, subglabrous, retrorse puberulent or pubescent below inflorescences, with 2-4 internodes. Leaves oblong-elliptic to ovate, rarely obovate, 5-10 × 1-3 mm, glabrous, base attenuate, margin entire, sparsely ciliate basally, apex obtuse to acute. Inflorescences capitate, sometimes with 1 or 2 undeveloped verticillasters; bractlets crowded at bases of branches, deciduous. Pedicel 1-4 mm, densely pubescent. Calyx campanulate, 3.5-4.5 mm, base pilose, apex glabrous; teeth of upper lip subtriangular to lanceolate, minutely hispid. Corolla red-purple, 5.5-6.5 mm, pubescent. Fl. Jul-Aug.

Streamsides, grasslands, gravelly areas; 1100-1400 m. Xinjiang [Russia].