Cancrinia chrysocephala Karelin & Kirilov subsp. tianschanica Krascheninnikov, Bot. Mater. Gerb. Glavn. Bot. Sada R.S.F.S.R. 3: 81. 1922.

Herbs, perennial, ± scapose, to 10 cm tall, sparsely grayish hirsute, hairs simple. Basal leaves many, petiolate; leaf blade oblong or ovate, 2-3 × 0.5-1 cm, 2-pinnatipartite, both surfaces densely lanate; primary lateral lobes 3- or 4-paired; ultimate lobes obtuse or slightly acute at apex. Stem leaves very reduced, margin entire. Capitulum solitary, long pedunculate. Involucres coryliform, 4-6 mm in diam.; phyllaries in 3 rows, herbaceous, scarious margin narrow, glossy brown, outer phyllaries lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, inner ones longer, oblong-linear. Florets yellow, 5-lobed. Achenes 1.5-2.2 mm, 5- or 6-ribbed, sparsely pilose. Corona scales 8-12, linear or elliptic-linear. Fl. and fr. Jul-Aug.

Rocky places on mountain slopes, meadows, gravelly places, floodlands; ca. 3200 m. Xinjiang (Tian Shan) [Kazakhstan (C Tian Shan)].