Melandrium apricum (Turczaninow) Rohrbach var. firmum (Siebold & Zuccarini) Rohrbach; ?M. apricum var. firmum f. pubescens Makino; M. firmum (Siebold & Zuccarini) Rohrbach; ?M. firmum f. pubescens (Makino) Makino; ?M. firmum var. pubescens (Makino) Y. Z. Zhao; Silene aprica Turczaninow var. firma (Siebold & Zuccarini) F. N. Williams; S. epilosa W. W. Smith; ?S. firma f. pubescens (Makino) Ohwi & Ohashi; ?S. firma var. pubescens (Makino) S. Y. He.

Herbs annual or biennial, 50--100 cm tall, usually glabrous throughout, sometimes only shortly hairy at base. Stems erect, sometimes dark violet basally, robust, simple or sparsely branched. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate to ovate-oblanceolate or obovate-oblanceolate, 4--10(--16) × 0.8--2.5(--5) cm, base attenuate, apex acute. Flowers in an irregular thyrse. At least distal cymules without a stalk, proximal cymules rarely stalked. Pedicel erect, 5--18(--30) mm, usually glabrous; bracts narrowly lanceolate. Calyx ovoid-campanulate, 7--9 mm, glabrous, enlarged to 1--1.2 cm in fruit, veins green. Androgynophore very short or obsolete, glabrous. Petals included, white; claws oblanceolate, glabrous, auriculate; limbs ovate, bifid. Coronal scales small. Stamens and styles included. Styles 3. Capsule ovoid, 8--11 mm, shorter or longer than calyx. Seeds gray-brown, globose-reniform, ca. 1 mm, tuberculate. Fl. Jun--Jul, fr. Jul--Aug. 2n = 48.

Mountain grasslands, scrub; 300--2500 m. Throughout China [Japan, Korea, Russia].