Flueggea dubia Kunth; F. griffithii Baker; F. jacquemontiana Kunth; F. japonica (Linnaeus f.) Richard var. intermedia (D. Don) Schultes; F. wallichiana Kunth; Mondo intermedium (D. Don) L. H. Bailey; M. japonicum (Linnaeus f.) Farwell var. griffithii (Baker) Farwell; M. japonicum var. intermedium (D. Don) Farwell; M. japonicum var. wallichianum (Kunth) Farwell; M. scabrum Ohwi; M. wallichianum (Kunth) L. H. Bailey; Ophiopogon aciformis F. T. Wang & T. Tang ex H. Li & Y. P. Yang; O. compressus Y. Wan & C. C. Huang; O. griffithii (Baker) J. D. Hooker; O. japonicus (Linnaeus f.) Ker Gawler var. intermedius (D. Don) Maximowicz; O. longibracteatus H. Li & Y. P. Yang; O. longipedicellatus Y. Wan & C. C. Huang; O. wallichianus (Kunth) J. D. Hooker; O. xiaokuai Z. Y. Zhu.

Roots sometimes with fleshy, tuberous part near tip. Rhizome short, thick. Leaves basal, tufted, sessile, grasslike, 15--55(--70) cm × 3--15 mm, 5--9-veined, base attenuate, margin usually serrulate; leaf tufts usually surrounded by brownish, membranous sheaths. Scape (15--)20--50 cm, sometimes slightly flattened and narrowly 2-winged. Inflorescence a reduced panicle, (2.5--)5--16 cm, many flowered; bracts subulate, linear, or lanceolate, basal one 1.5--4 cm. Flowers in clusters of 2 or 3 or sometimes solitary; pedicel 4--7 mm, articulate proximally or at middle. Tepals white or purplish, oblong, ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, 4--7 × 2--2.5 mm. Filaments very short; anthers 2--4 mm. Style 3--4 mm. Seeds ellipsoid. Fl. May--Aug, fr. Aug--Oct. 2 n = 36*, 54, 68, 72*, 108*, 112.

Ophiopogon intermedius is a very variable species. Ophiopogon griffithii, reported by Yang and Li (Acta Bot. Yunnan., Suppl. 3: 82--83. 1990) from S Yunnan, seems to be conspecific with O. intermedius.

Evergreen broad-leaved forests, mixed forests, bamboo forests, scrub, moist and shady places along streams, grassy slopes; 700--3000 m. Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].