Japan Flora: Shrub, the branches with rather stout flat prickles, greenish, the flowering branch- lets scarcely elongate, slightly pubescent while young; leaves ovate to narrowly so, 3-7 cm. long, 2.5-4 cm. wide, long-acute to acuminate, truncate to shallowly cordate at base, 3(-5)- lobed or -cleft, rarely undivided, with irregularly acute-toothed lobes, appressed-pubescent on nerves on both sides when young, the petioles often prickly; flowers solitary, white, nod­ding, the pedicels 5-10 mm. long, sparingly soft-pubescent; calyx 10-12 mm. long, the lobes membranous, more or less appressed-pubescent on both sides; petals broadly obovate, much longer than the calyx-segments; fruit globose, yellow, the fruitlets glabrous. Mar.-May. Hills and low moun­tains.

Honshu (Kinki Distr. and westw.), Shikoku, Kyushu. Korea and China. Common and variable.

var. coptophyllus (A. Gray) O. Kuntze. Leaves ovate to broadly so, palmately (3-)5-lobed to -lobulate. Honshu (centr. and n. distr.).

var. ktsoensis (Nakai) Ohwi. Leaves scarcely divided, deeply cordate at base, the lateral nerves many.  Mountains; Honshu (centr. distr.); rare.