Draba oreades Schrenk in Fischer & C. A. Meyer, Enum. Pl. Nov. 2: 56. 1842; D. pilosa Adams var. oreades (Schrenk) Regel, Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 34: 183. 1861; D. affghanica Boissier var. oreades (Schrenk) Pohle, Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 32: 128. 1925. TYPE: [Kazakhstan]. Soongaria, Dschabyk, 12 Jul 1841, A. Schrenk s.n. (holotype, LE!; isotypes (one as # 8815), LE!).

Draba algida Adams var. brachycarpa Bunge, Verzeichnis Pfl. östl. Altai 68. 1836. TYPE:

Draba alpicola Klotzsch, Bot. Ergebn. Reise Prinz. Waldemar 128. 1862; D. oreades prol. alpicola (Klotzsch) O. E. Schulz, Meddel. Göteb. Bot. Träd. 1: 164. 1924. TYPE: Himalaya, 1845, W. Hoffmeister s.n. (holotype, B!).

Draba alpina Linnaeus var. rigida Franchet, Pl. Delav. 1: 59. 1889. TYPE: not designated.

Draba oreades prol. exigua O. E. Schulz, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 111. 1927. TYPE: [Kashmir]. Karakorum, 15,000 m, 8 Aug. 1896, C. B. Clarke 30227 (lectotype to be designated by Al-Shehbaz, K!).

Draba oreades prol. pikei O. E. Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 111. 1927. TYPE: Arnold Pike, chiefly in Capt. Deasy’s Expedition 1896-1897, Arnold Pike (lectotype to be designated by Al-Shehbaz, K!; isolectotype, CAL).

Draba oreades prol. chinensis O. E. Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 109. 1927. TYPE: China. Tibet Orientaus, between Tatien lu and Lifanfu, pass Hungkia, Aug 1893, Potanin s.n. (lectotype to be designated by Al-Shehbaz, B!).

Draba oreades prol. chinesis var. depauperata O. E. Schulz, Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni Veg. 31: 332. 1933. TYPE: Kashmir. Sonamarg, Glacier valley, 13,000 ft, 18 Aug 1928, R. R. Stewart 9937 (holotype, B!; isotype, NY!).

Draba oreades var. ciliolata O. E. Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 108. 1927. TYPE: Turkestan: Talki pass at Sairam, 3300 m, Jul 1877, A. Regel s.n. (holotype, B!).

Draba oreades var. dasycarpa O. E. Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 109. 1927. TYPE: Sikkim: 12-18,000 ft., J. D. Hooker s.n. (lectotype to be designated by Al-Shehbaz, B!; isolectotypes, BM!, F!, P!).

Draba oreades var. estylosa O. E. Schulz, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 111. 1927. TYPE: Sikkim. J. D. Hooker s.n. (holotype, K!).

Draba oreades var. glabrescens O. E. Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 110. 1927. TYPE: Himalaya, J. L. Stewart 43 (lectotype to be designated by Al-Shehbaz, K!).

Draba oreades var. occulata O. E. Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 110. 1927. TYPE TihriGarhwal, Dudu-Gletchers, under Srikanta, 15-16000 ft, 9 Aug 1883, J. Duthie 925 (lectotype to be designated by Al-Shehbaz, K!, isolectotype, K!).

Draba oreades var. pulvinata O. E. Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 108. 1927. TYPE: Tianschan, Scharysu, 1879, A. Regel s.n. (holotype, B!).

Draba oreades var. racemosa O. E. Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 109. 1927. LECTOTYPE (here designated): W China, 1904, E. H. Wilson 3207 (lectotype, K!; isolectotypes, BM!, GH!).

Draba oreades var. tafelii O. E. Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 108. 1927. LECTOTYPE (here designated): China. Tibet: Dschürong-Flusstal, W of Amne Matsching, 4200 m, 14 Jun 1906, A. Tafel 309 (lectotype, B!).

Draba pilosa Adams var. commutata Regel, Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 34: 185. 1861; D. oreades var. commutata (Regel) O. E. Schulz in Engler, Pflanzenreich IV, 105(Heft 89): 109. 1927. TYPE: see original publication: one of these collections should be the holotype or lectotype: Alatau, ad fl. Lepsa and Sarhan, 1841, Karelin & Kirilov 128 (LE); Turgenbasch, Semenov s.n. (LE).

Draba qinghaiensis L. L. Lou, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 25: 319. 1987. TYPE: China. Qinghai: Tanggula, 5000 m, 28 Jul 1975, Qingzang Freezing Soil Veg. Exped. 148 (holotype, HNWP!).

Draba rockii O. E. Schulz, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 10: 555. 1929. TYPE: China. Gansu: Tao River bain, Mishan range, alpine meadows, 12-13,000 ft, Jun 1925, J. F. Rock 12405 (holotype, B; isotype, GH!).

Draba tianschanica Pohle ex Fedtschenko, Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 31: 486. 1914.  TYPE: [Tajikistan]. Pamir, Tschatyr-tasch, 4000 m, 3 Jun 1898, O. Paulsen s.n. (lectotype to be designated by Al-Shehbaz, LE!).

Pseudobraya kizylarti Korshinsky, Mém. Acad. Sci. St. Pétersb., ser. 8, 4: 88. 1896; D. kizylarti (Korshinsky) N. Busch, Fl. Siber. 3: 309. 1919. TYPE: Turkestan: Kizil-art, 9 Jul 1895, Korschinsky 436 (holotype, LE!; isotype, B!).

     Herbs perennial, cespitose, scapose; caudex simple to many branched, ultimate branches terminated in rosettes and covered with petiolar remains of previous years. Stems (0.5–)1.5–14(–20) cm, erect, simple, often densely pubescent with a mixture of simple and subsessile forked trichomes, sometime subhirsute with almost exclusively simple trichomes, rarely glabrous. Basal leaves rosulate, persistent; petiole absent or short, rarely to 2 cm, persistent, often ciliate with simple and/or long-stalked forked trichomes; leaf blade suborbicular, obovate, spatulate, oblanceolate, or lanceolate, (0.3–)0.5–2(–3) cm ´ (1–)2–6(–8) mm, sparsely or densely pubescent with simple trichomes, these often mixed abaxially with stalked forked and subsessile, 3- or 4-rayed stellate ones with unbranched rays, adaxially with predominantly simple trichomes, rarely both surfaces glabrous except for ciliate margins, base cuneate to attenuate, margin entire or rarely 1- or 2-toothed on each side, apex obtuse to acute; cauline leaves absent, sometimes 1, very rarely 2, sessile, similar to basal. Racemes (2–)4–15(–25)-flowered, ebracteate, subumbellate and not elongated or rarely subracemose and slightly elongated in fruit; fruiting pedicels 1–7(–10) mm, divaricate or divaricate-ascending, straight or rarely slightly curved, tomentose or pilose abaxially, glabrous adaxially or rarely throughout. Sepals oblong or ovate, 1.5–2.5(–3) ´ 0.8–1.5(–1.8) mm, erect, caducous or rarely persistent, abaxially sparsely pilose or glabrous, base of lateral pair not saccate, margin narrowly membranous; petals yellow, obovate to narrowly spatulate, 2.5–5(–6) ´ (0.9–)1.5–2.5(–3) mm, apex emarginate or rounded; claw absent, rarely 1(–2) mm; filaments 1.5–2.5(–3) mm; anthers ovate, 0.2–0.4(–0.6) mm. Nectar glands lateral, 1 on each side of lateral stamen, sometimes these connected and glands appearing 2; median glands absent; ovules (4–)6–12 per ovary. Fruit ovate to suborbicular, rarely ovate-lanceolate, (3–)4–9(–12) ´ 1.5–4.5(–6) mm, latiseptate and only basally inflated, not twisted; valves glabrous, not veined, base obtuse, apex acute to subacuminate; style (0.1–)0.3–0.8(–1) mm. Seeds black to dark brown, ovate, (0.7–)1–1.5 ´ 0.5–0.9(–1) mm. 2n = 40.

Flowering: Jun–Aug.

Habitat: rock crevices, moraine, scree, alpine meadows and tundra, scrub, glacier margins, hillsides, grassy slopes, swampy meadows, muddy gravel, rocky outcrops, cliffs.

Elevation: 2300–5500 m.

Distribution: Afghansitan, Bhutan, China (Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan), India (Punjab, Sikkim), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia (Altai), Tajikistan.