The leaves are slender and grassy. It bears from one to twenty reflexed and nodding flowers, usually red in colour, and which may be spotted with black. The flowers are scented.
Dianthus versicolor (Caryophyllaceae) and Lilium pumilum (Liliaceae) are two medicinal plants used in traditional Mongolian medicine to treat hepatic and gastrointestinal disorders. Aqueous and methanolic extracts of Dianthus versicolor Fisch. (Caryophyllaceae) and Lilium pumilum Delile (Liliaceae) were prepared and monitored in the isolated perfused rat liver.

It may be short lived in cultivation, but tends to last longest in well-drained soils.