Shrublets dwarf, 15--45 cm tall. Branches indistinctly 6-angulate, flat or shallowly 6-grooved, puberulous or glabrous. Leaves ternate or pinnate, sometimes simple; petiole 1--2 cm, appressed puberulous; leaflet blades narrowly ovate to broadly ovate, 1--2 × 0.5--2 cm, leathery, usually 2- or 3-lobed or parted basally from middle, both surfaces sparsely puberulous, base subcordate to broadly cuneate, margin entire or to 2-denticulate; basal veins abaxially flat or ± prominent; terminal lobe largest, lanceolate to narrowly ovate. Flowers solitary, terminal, slightly nodding, 2.5--3.5 cm in diam. Pedicel 9--12.5 cm, puberulous. Sepals 4, yellow, ascending, papery, narrowly ovate, oblong-ovate, or oblong, 1.7--2.8 × 0.7--1.2 cm, abaxially sparsely puberulous, adaxially ± densely puberulous, margin abaxially velutinous, apex acute. Stamens 7.5--10 mm; filaments margin puberulous; anthers narrowly oblong, 2.5--3 mm, glabrous, apex minutely apiculate. Ovaries pubescent. Style ca. 1 cm, densely villous. Fl. Jun--Jul.

After publication of the family treatment for the Flora of China, W. T. Wang (Acta Phytotax. Sin. 44: 421. 2006) treated this as Clematis tibetana var. pamiralaica (Grey-Wilson) W. T. Wang.

Grassy areas on slopes, rocky cliffs; 3300--4600 m. SW Xinjiang [Tajikistan].