Plants perennial, with stout to slender, often fusiform, woody caudices; periderm 1-12 mm. Stems 1-10 cm. Leaves: basal leaves petiolate, often dilated at base, blade spatulate to elliptic, 2-15 × 0.5-1 cm, thinly herbaceous, apex obtuse; cauline leaves sessile, blade elliptic or oval, 0.5-2 × 0.5-1 cm. Inflorescences ebracteate. Flowers 12-20 mm diam.; sepals 6-8 mm; petals yellow or white with yellow blotch at base, 10-12 × 3-8 mm; ovules 6. Seeds 2-3 mm diam., shiny and smooth to tuberculate; elaiosome 1-2 mm. 2n = 10.

Flowering Jun-Jul. Snow beds in talus, rocks, and gravels; 0-2000 m; Alaska; Russia.