Differs from subsp. serotina: Mostly taller, 10-45 cm (subsp. serotina 5-25 cm); leaves 1/4-2/3 of stem length, and mostly wider, to 4 mm (1.5-2 mm); utricles longer 2.5-3.1 mm (1.7-2.7 mm), beak 0.6-1 mm (0.2-0.5 mm).

Fl. Per.: May - August.

Holotype: Uzbekistan: prov. Darvaz, in decliviis meridionalibus jugi Petri Magni, loco Arzyng, 820 ped. alt. 19.7.1899, V. Lipsky 2732 (LE).

Wet or marshy meadows, along streams and rivers on mountain slopes, 1200 - 2750 m; Distribution: Central Asia from Tian Shan to Pamir, sporadically westwards to Afghanistan and Iran; Pakistan, Kashmir, China.

Status of this taxon is uncertain, e.g. Egorova 1967 (in V.I. Grubov, Pl. Asiae Centralis 3) accepted it at species level, then included it in the European C. serotina (Egorova 1976, 1999). C. serotina subsp. serotina occurs in Europe, mainly in the North, and extends, according to Fl. Europaea, eastwards into C Russia until c. 40oE, with an isolated area in S. Urals. In southern Europe it is rare and its presence in Caucasus is obscure. In Central Asia C. serotina subsp. philocrena is common and a distinct taxon (Kukkonen, l.c. 1998).