(modifié de Coste, Flore de la France 1937) :
Plante vivace de 20-50 cm, pubescente-blanchâtre, ne noircissant pas, à souche courte; hampes ascendantes, finement striées, pubescentes, 4-5 fois plus longues que les feuilles;
Écologie : (répartition d'après la flore) Pelouses sèches, chemins, dans presque toute la France.
Répartition hors de France : Europe; Asie occidentale.
(modified from Butcher, British Flora 1961):
NOTE: the French text is more complete and up-to-date
A rather stout perennial with flowering scapes 15-45 cm long, growing from a flat rosette of broad leaves and a very thick rootstock.
Ecology UK: (distribution according to flora) It is an abundant plant in grassland on basic soils as far north as Yorkshire, and very rare or absent in Scotland and Ireland.
France:
Distribution outside France: ?
Fleurs : épi oblong ou cylindrique, blanchâtre, compact; bractées ovales-obtuses, largement scarieuses, vertes sur le dos, plus courtes que les sépales arrondis ; corolle blanche, glabre, à lobes ovales; anthères blanches, filets lilacés très saillants
Floraison France : Mai-septembre.
Flowers: 3-5 mm long, sessile, in a rather long cylindrical spike which is much shorter than the terete peduncle; sepals ovate with a prominent rib; corolla silvery-white, lobes narrowly lanceolate, acute; stamens pink; filaments twice as long as corolla tube.
Flowering UK: Late May-early Sept.