The flowers are 3,8-4,6 mm long, shorter than their bract and bracteoles, with lanceolate tepals, their membranous margins at the apex distinctly wider than laterally.

The winged fruit is 10–15 mm in diameter, the tepal lobes with thick, spongy keels, forming a flat five radiated cone.

At its bottom, a wide, sharp-edged prominent peripheral rim surrounds the large ovate pits.

In the lower parts of the plants, the fruits are heavier with shorter wings, in the upper part fruits are lighter with larger wings (heterocarpy) The species has been first described in 1912 as Salsola iliensis by Vladimir Ippolitovich Lipsky (In: B. Fedčenko: Trudy Imperatorskago S.-Peterburgskago Botaniceskago Sada.

The distribution area of Halothamnus iliensis extends from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, northern Afghanistan to Tajikistan and Kirghistan.