A variety of cold, dry habitats are found, including alpine meadows, steppe, desert, and cushion plant floral areas.

From there it follows the Kunlun from west to east across the northern edge of the Tibet Plateau, on the south rim of the arid Tarim Basin.

There are very limited stands of Asian spruce (Picea schrenkiana) and juniper shrubs on low, north-facing slopes where they can capture moisture or snow melt.

Some slopes below 5,300 meters support a high cold steppe community that features sedges (Carex), purple feathergrass (Stipa purpurea), falcate crazyweed (locoweed) (Oxytropis falcata).

The species had been identified in 1884 on the basis of two specimens, then 'lost' for over 100 years until scientists discovered some isolated communities in the Kunlun Mountains.