A shrub 70–130 cm high, with numerous branched stems and a powerful root system 2–4 meters long. Leaves are alternate, simple, sometimes trifoliate, hairy on the underside, with glandular dots on both sides, sticky, rounded or oval, and coarsely toothed. Flowers are collected in sparse racemes, whitish-lilac in color. The pod is small (about 5 mm), almost round, one-seeded, non-dehiscent, nut-like, with a persistent calyx, and covered in grayish hairs. It blooms from April to August, and fruits are harvested from July to September.
A Central Asian plant forming extensive thickets on loess foothills and low mountains of the Tien Shan, Pamir-Alay, and mountainous Turkmenistan, in so-called ak-kuray semi-deserts.
Furocoumarins such as psoralen, isopsoralen, and others have been found in the fruits and roots. The fruits contain a small amount of essential oil, while its traces are present in the stems. Seeds and grass contain a steroid glycoside, drupacin; alkaloids have not been detected.
The drug psoralen, obtained from the fruits and roots, is used to treat white patches on the skin and alopecia areata. The preparation is a mixture of two isomeric furocoumarins: psoralen and isopsoralen. It is available in tablet form at 0.005 g, 0.01 g, and 0.02 g, as well as a 1% myrtle (70°) solution for external use.
After taking tablets 2–3 times a day 30 minutes before meals, white patches of skin or bald areas are smeared with the alcohol solution, and then, a few hours later, exposed to sunlight or a mercury-quartz lamp. The treatment course lasts about 3 months. The therapy is based on the photosensitizing properties of these furocoumarins.