An erect or decumbent, many-stemmed, glabrous or tomentellous, glaucous subshrub with stiff, wiry stems up to 1 m tall or long, arising from a thick woody stock. Leaves of the main stems alternate, subsessile, linear-lanceolate, 1-5.5 cm x 1-5.5 mm, acute or subacute at the apex, tapered to the base, entire. Pseudumbels of the main stems 5-rayed; pseudumbel-leaves whorled, sessile, elliptic-oblanceolate, 1-3 cm x 5-8 mm, acute or subacute, ± cmeate; ray-leaves opposite, sessile, ovate-deltoid to ovate-rhombic, 7-8 x 7-8 mm, subacute or obtuse, rounded-truncate. Leaves of the short lateral shoots, which later develop on the old main stems, small (< 1 x 1 mm), scale-like and closely-imbricate proximally, becoming more like those of the main stems distally. Pseudumbels of the lateral shoots (2-) 3-4-rayed; pseudumbel-leaves sub-orbicular, ovate-rhombic, obovate or elliptic-oblanceolate, 5-10 x 2-6 mm; ray-leaves broadly ovate-rhombic to transversely-ovate, 4-6 x 5-10 mm, sometimes mucronulate. Cyathia solitary, terminating the main and lateral shoots, and in the forks of the pseudumbeldichotomies. Glands trapezoidal, truncate and pectinate-lacerate, or crescentic and shortly and broadly 2-homed, yellowish-green to ochreous or orange. Fruits rounded-trilobate, 4-4.5 x 4.5-5 mm, smooth, glabrous or tomentellous. Styles united to c. half-way, 2.5 mm long, bilobate. Seeds obovoid-cylindric, 3 x 2 x 2 mm, smooth, pale grey or whitish, with a petasiform caruncle c. 1 mm across.

Fl. Per.: Mar-Apr. Fr. Per.: Apr: July.

Holotype: Iran, Aucher-Eloy 5298 (P). Isotypes (G! K!). Paratype: ‘prope pagum Gere in monte Buschom’ (? Kuh-e Sabz Pushan nr. Shiraz), 25 Mar. 1842, Kotschy 111 (P). Isoparatypes (G! K! W).

Distribution: Iran, Afghanistan. Very common on rocky hills, in limestone gorges, in gravelly sand and nala beds and in sandy clay soil; [1000'/300m. 3500'/1067 m. - 7200'/2200 m.