Allium moschatum Linnaeus var. brevipedunculatum Regel; A. moschatum var. dubium Regel; A. oliganthum Karelin & Kirilov var. elongatum Karelin & Kirilov.

Bulb solitary or clustered, ovoid, 0.5--1 cm in diam.; tunic brown, sometimes lustrous, leathery, prominently reticulate veined, apex fibrous or subreticulate. Leaves 2--4, much shorter than scape, ca. 0.5 mm wide, semiterete, adaxially channeled, smooth or scabrous along ribs. Scape 10--30 cm, terete, covered with leaf sheaths for ca. 1/3 its length. Spathe 2-valved, persistent; beak 1/3--1/2 as long as limb. Umbel nearly hemispheric, few flowered. Pedicels unequal, especially in fruit, 2--3 × as long as perianth, bracteolate. Perianth white to pinkish white or pale red; segments with purple midvein, oblong-lanceolate, equal, 5--6.5 × 1.2--1.8 mm, apex shortly pointed. Filaments equal, 1/2--2/3 × as long as perianth segments, connate at base and adnate to perianth segments for 1/4--1/3 their length; outer ones triangular; inner ones ca. 2 × as wide as outer at base and abruptly subulate distally. Ovary ovoid, with concave nectaries covered by hoodlike projections at base. Style not exserted. Fl. and fr. Jul--Aug.

Dry slopes, basins, river shores; 1500--2500 m. Xinjiang (Tian Shan) [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan].