Maianthemum japonicum (A. Gray) La Frankie

Plants 30--60 cm tall. Rhizome creeping, subterete or submoniliform, 7--10 mm thick. Stem strigose distally. Leaves 4--9, shortly petiolate; leaf blade ovate-elliptic, elliptic, or oblong, 6--15 × 3--7 cm, both surfaces laxly pubescent or glabrescent. Inflorescence paniculate, with 3--5 branches, 3--6 cm, 10--25-flowered; rachis pubescent. Flowers solitary; pedicel 2--6 mm, pubescent. Perianth white; segments free or slightly connate at base, oblong or oblong-obovate, ca. 3 × 1.5 mm. Filaments filiform, 2--2.5 mm; anthers small. Style 0.5--1 mm, subequaling ovary; stigma subentire. Berries red at maturity, 5--6 mm in diam., 1- or 2-seeded. Fl. May--Jun, fr. Aug--Sep. 2 n = 36*.

Anhui, ?Fujian, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea, Russia].

Forests, moist and shaded places, cliffs; 900--2000 m.

Smilacina japonica A. Gray in Perry, Jap. Exped. 2: 321. 1856; S. hirta Maximowicz; S. japonica var. mandshurica Maximowicz; S. rossii (Baker) Maximowicz; Tovaria japonica (A. Gray) Baker; T. rossii Baker.