Ophiopogon spicatus (Thunberg) Ker Gawler var. minor Maximowicz, Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Pétersbourg 15: 85. 1871; Liriope cernua (Koidzumi) Masamune; L. graminifolia (Linnaeus) Baker var. minor (Maximowicz) Baker; L. spicata (Thunberg) Loureiro var. minor (Maximowicz) C. H. Wright; Mondo cernuum Koidzumi; M. tokyoense Nakai.

Roots with fusiform, fleshy, tuberous part near tip. Stolons creeping, elongate, slender. Leaves narrowly linear, 7--20 cm × 2--3(--4) mm, 5-veined, basally surrounded by many membranous-margined sheaths. Scape 6--7(--15) cm, much shorter than leaves. Inflorescence 1--3(--5) cm, 5--12-flowered; bracts ovate-lanceolate, basal one ca. 4 mm, margin membranous. Flowers solitary, sometimes in clusters of 2 or 3; pedicel 3--4 mm. Tepals purplish, ovate-oblong, ca. 3.5 × 0.7 mm. Filaments ca. 1.5 mm; anthers ca. 1.5 mm. Style ca. 2 mm; stigma small. Seeds dark blue at maturity, subglobose, 4--5 mm in diam. Fl. Jun--Jul, fr. Aug--Sep. 2 n = 36.

Forests, shady hillsides, grassy slopes; 600--2600 m. Fujian, Guangxi, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan].