Circaea mollis occurs just across the Strait of Taiwan in Fujian Province. It ranges from Japan, South Korea, SE Russia and NE China to SC China, westward to N mountainous areas of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, and Assam, India, and occurs in deciduous forests from near sea level to ca. 1,700 m. It resembles C. erubescens in the exserted nectary and bilocular fruits, but the fruits are deeply corrugated, have prominent corky thickenings, and the stem, and also frequently the inflorescence, is pubescent. It should be sought in Taiwan.