Japan Flora: Bulbs 1.5-3 cm. in diameter, scales semiglobose, white, thick, fleshy; stems 30-80 cm. long, erect, many-leaved; leaves opposite or ternate, linear-lanceolate. gradually narrowed toward the tip, sessile, 7-15 cm. long, 5-10 cm. wide, whitish beneath, the upper cauline leaves bractlike and producing a hooked tendrillike point; flowers several or sometimes solitary, the pedicels 1-2 cm. long, the tepals pale yellow, 2.5-3 cm. long, about 1 cm. wide, obsoletely reticulate inside, oblong, obtuse, with a nectary gland near the base; style longer than the stigmas; fruit squarrose with 6 broad wings, the tip retuse. Apr.-May.

Chinese plant long cultivated in our gardens for medicinal and ornamental pur­poses, sometimes naturalized.