Plants tufted, 8--20 cm tall. Stolons short. Stems terete, ca. 1 mm in diam. Basal leaves several; leaf sheath sparsely pilose; leaf blade linear-lanceolate, flat, 4--8 cm × 2--4 mm, margin sparsely pilose except for apical callus, apex blunt. Cauline leaves 1 or 2. Inflorescence umbellate; basal involucral bract 1.4--3 cm, shorter than inflorescence; heads 4--12, 3--7-flowered; peduncles unequal or heads subsessile. Bracteoles broadly ovate, margin subentire. Perianth segments dark brown, lanceolate, 1.8--2.1 × 0.8--1 mm, subequal, apex acute. Filaments usually longer than anthers; anthers ca. 0.8 mm. Style shorter than ovary; stigmas 1.5--1.8 mm. Capsule trigonous ellipsoid, 1.8--2 mm, apex mucronate. Seeds ellipsoid, ca. 1.2 mm; appendage inconspicuous. Fl. Jun--Jul, fr. Jul--Aug.

Forested slopes, disturbed meadows; 1900--3700 m. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Xizang [Japan, Korea, Nepal, Russia, Sikkim].