Leontopodium alpinum Cassini var. stracheyi J. D. Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 3: 279. 1881; L. stracheyi var. tenuicaule Beauverd.

Herbs, perennial. Rhizome stout, branched, with numerous flowering and sterile stems. Stems subwoody, erect, usually not branched, (5-)12-60 cm tall, glandular and sometimes arachnoid pubescent; internodes (3-)5-10 mm. Leaves narrowly oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 20-50 × 3-12 mm, abaxially densely white tomentose, adaxially green, glandular and sometimes arachnoid pubescent, base almost auriculate, apex acute or acuminate. Capitula 3-11, usually dioecious, crowded; bracteal leaves 7-12, similar to upper leaves in shape and size, forming a star of 2-6 cm in diam. or compound stars, both surfaces white arachnoid tomentose, more densely so above. Involucre 4-5 mm, pilose; phyllaries 2- or 3-seriate, ovate to oblanceolate, 4-4.5 × 1-2 mm, with dark brown scarious margin. Corollas 3.5-4 mm. Achenes 0.75-1 mm, pubescent; male ovary pubescent. Pappus white. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct.

Grasslands, thickets, sparse forests, gravelly slopes; 2000-4700 m. Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang, NW Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, Nepal].