Smilacina tubifera Batalin, Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 13: 104. 1893; S. fargesii (Franchet) Diels; S. souliei (Franchet) F. T. Wang & T. Tang; Tovaria fargesii Franchet; T. prattii Franchet var. quadrifolia Franchet; T. souliei Franchet; T. tubifera (Batalin) C. H. Wright.

Plants 10--30 cm tall. Rhizome subterete, 1(--6) mm thick, usually slender. Stem hispidulous distally. Leaves 2--5, subsessile or shortly petiolate; leaf blade ovate or oblong-ovate, 3--3.5(--9) × 2.5--4.5 cm, both surfaces laxly pubescent or glabrescent, base truncate or subcordate. Inflorescence a raceme, 1--4(--7) cm, 2- or 3(--10)-flowered; rachis pubescent. Flowers solitary; pedicel 1--2(--4) mm. Perianth white or sometimes tinged purple; segments connate proximally, forming a short tube 1--2 mm, lobes oblong, 2.5--3(--5) × 2--2.5 mm. Filaments very short. Style 0.5--1 mm, subequaling ovary. Berries 6--7 mm in diam., 2- or 3-seeded. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Sep.

* Moist places in forests; 2500--3000 m. Gansu, Hubei, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan.