Japan Flora: Plants with strong odor; bulbs tufted, attached to short rhizomes, the outer fibrous bulb coat yellowish; leaves few, linear, 20-30 cm. long, 3-4 mm. wide, flat, soft, obtuse; scapes 30-50 cm. long, the spathe acute; flowers white, spreading, the pedicels slender, 1.5-3.5 cm. long, the tepals 5-6 mm. long, narrowly oblong, acute; stamens slightly shorter than the tepals, the anthers yellow, the filaments broadened below, entire; style not exserted. June-Sept.
Naturalized and said to be spontaneous in Honshu and Kyushu; widely cultivated as a vegetale. China and India.