S. nepalensis Grubov in Bot. Mat. Gerb. Bot. Inst. Akad. Nauk SSSR 21: 127. 1961; R. R. Stewart, Ann. Cat. Vasc. Pl. Pak. Kashm., 226. 1972; Li in Fl. Reip. Pop. Sin. 25,2: 184. 1979; Li in Fl. Xizang. 1: 644. 1983; ? S. paulsenii subsp. oreophila Kinzik. in Trudy Inst. Bot. Dushanbe 18: 270. 1962; Soskov in Fl. Tadzh. SSR 3: 386. 1968; S. sinkiangensis Li in Acta Phytotax. Sin. 16,1: 122. 1978; Li in Fl. Reip. Pop. Sin. 25,2: 183. 1979; Liu in Fl. Desert. Reip. Pop. Sin. 1: 362. 1985; Mao in Fl. Xinjiang. 2,1: 105. 1994.

Slender annual with delicate foliage, 8-40 cm high, usually erect, more rarely prostrate, hispid-puberulent. Leaves filiform, scarcely succulent, 9-35 x 0.5-0.9 mm, with a short and thin up to 1 mm long spine. Flowers in dense spikes with ascending to spreading bracts and bracteoles, often most flowers in loosely arranged groups of 2-3 in condensed lateral spikes with sheathing and fused bracts and bracteoles, producing unwinged complex fruits. Bracts 5-8(12) mm long, becoming rigid rather late, spine 1-1.5 mm. Bracteoles 2-4(5) mm long, spine 1.5-2 mm long; bracts and bracteoles along the margins prominently papillose-ciliate. Tepals lanceolate to ligulate, 1.5-2 mm long, the outer 0.6-0.9 mm wide and 3-veined with the midrib reaching the tip and eventually terminating into a short mucro, the inner 1-veined with eroso-dentate apex, transverse line at 1/3, at least outer tepals with distinctly ciliate to papillose margins. Anthers 0.4-0.6(0.8) mm long, including the minute appendage, divided for 1/3-1/2; filaments 1.8-2.5 mm long; disc c. 0.1 mm high, shallowly 10-lobed, sparsely papillose. Style 0.4-0.6 mm long; stigmas (1.0)1.2-1.8 mm long, revolute, gradually narrowed into very fine apices, shortly and loosely papillose. Winged fruits 4-7 mm diam., the 3 outer wings 1-2 mm long, membranous, prominently veined, the 2 inner much shorter, linear, coriaceous; tepals above the wings somewhat thickened and indurated, incurved, upper part short, membranous, crumpled, more rarely the outermost stiff from slightly hardened midrib; tepals below the wings forming a bowl-shaped structure, base flat, with 5 shallow grooves; in lower and middle part of the plants often wingless complex fruits made up by condensed lateral spikes with 2-3 flowers surrounded by glabrous, shining, gibbous, hardened and coalescent bases of bracts and bracteoles, or evolving from 1 flower with subtending bract and bracteoles. Seed horizontal, more rarely oblique.

Fl. Per.: June-August.

Holotype: [Kashmir] Indes Orient, Jacquemont 2114; (P-Moq!), iso- (P-Moq.!).

On coarse-textured and sandy non-saline soils of dry semi-desertic slopes in high altitudes, locally invading ruderal sites and edges of dry-farmed fields; (2500)3000-4200(4720) m. The species resembles both S. tragus and S. collina and in the past it has been widely misidentified. S. jacquemontii replaces S. tragus in the subalpine and alpine belts, and with 4720 m it ascends higher than any other species of the genus. From the first it differs in its much more delicate habit, a much denser and longer indument, smaller flowers and fruits, and distinctly ciliate tepal margins. With S. collina it shares the same area in N Pakistan, but it can be separated easily by the spreading bracts and bracteoles, the winged fruits and the horizontal seed position; Distribution: W Mongolia, E Tadzhikistan (Pamir), NE Afghanistan (Wakhan), Xinjiang, N Pakistan, N India, Nepal.

C Asiatic (CA), restricted to high-mountain areas.