Thesium refractum C. A. Mey.

Herbs perennial; rhizomes straight, rather strong. Stems erect or ascending, 20-40 cm. Leaves sessile, lanceolate, 30-50 × 2-2.5 mm, rugose on both sides, usually 1-veined, base contracted but not decurrent, apex usually obtuse. Inflorescences racemelike, often branched, rachis zigzagged, especially near apex, with 1 flower per axil; bracts inserted at tip of pedicel, patent, leaflike, 6-8 mm; pedicel decumbent and gradually reflexed after flowering, slender, 5-7 mm, ridged; bracteoles 2, slightly shorter than or as long as bracts. Perianth 5-merous, white, 5-6 mm, tube tubular or broadly funnelform, lobes linear-lanceolate. Stamens 5, not exserted. Ovary stalk very short. Style terete, not exserted. Nutlet ellipsoid or ovoid, ca. 3 × 2-2.5 mm, with 5-10 inconspicuous longitudinal veins (or ridges), ridges sometimes forked; persistent perianth ca. 1.5 mm; fruit stalk to 1 cm, reflexed in mature fruit. Fl. Jul, fr. Sep.

Grassy marshlands, sandy slopes. Gansu, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Hunan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia].