Convallaria japonica Linnaeus f., Suppl. Pl. 204. 1782; Anemarrhena cavaleriei H. Léveillé, nom. illeg. (included Ophiopogon stolonifer); C. japonica var. minor Thunberg; Flueggea japonica (Linnaeus f.) Richard; Mondo japonicum (Linnaeus f.) Farwell; M. stolonifer (H. Léveillé & Vaniot) Farwell; O. argyi H. Léveillé; O. chekiangensis Koiti Kimura & Migo; O. stolonifer H. Léveillé & Vaniot; Slateria japonica (Linnaeus f.) Desvaux.

Plants stoloniferous. Roots moderately thick, usually with tuberous part near middle or tip. Leaves basal, tufted, sessile, grasslike, generally 10--50 cm × 2--4 mm, 3--7-veined, margin serrulate. Scape 6--15(--27) cm, much shorter than leaves. Inflo-rescence a reduced panicle, 2--5 cm, several to more than 10-flowered; bracts lanceolate, basal one 7--8 mm. Flowers solitary or paired, usually nodding; pedicel 3--4 mm, articulate near middle. Tepals white or purplish, lanceolate, ca. 5 × 2 mm. Filaments very short; anthers 2.5--3 mm. Style somewhat narrowly conical, ca. 4 mm, moderately thick, basally widened. Seeds globose, 7--8 mm in diam. Fl. May--Aug, fr. Aug--Sep. 2 n = 34*, 36*, 67, 68*, 72*, 108*.

Widely cultivated in China for its tuberous roots, which are used medicinally.

Forests, dense scrub in ravines, moist and shady places on slopes and along streams, cliffs; 200--2800 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].