Disporum


Disporum is a genus of about 20 species of perennial flowering plants, found in Asia from northern India to Japan, south to Indonesia and north into the Russian Far East.

Taxonomy

Disporum pullum, from China, was first named by Salisbury in 1812, but subsequent authors places it in other genera such as Streptopus and Uvularia, till Don published the first valid description in 1825.
In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family Colchicaceae. The genus previously included five species in North America, but these have been separated as the genus Prosartes D.Don and moved to the family Liliaceae in accordance to differences in karyology and chemistry as well as results from molecular systematic investigations. The type species is Disporum pullum Salisb., which is a synonym of Disporum cantoniense.
; SpeciesDisporum acuminatissimum W.L.Sha - GuangxiDisporum acuminatum C.H.Wright - MyanmarDisporum bodinieri F.T.Wang & Tang - Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan, Tibet, YunnanDisporum calcaratum D.Don - Yunnan, Himalayas, N IndochinaDisporum cantoniense Merr. - S China, S + SE AsiaDisporum hainanense Merr. - Guangdong, HainanDisporum jinfoshanense X.Z.Li, D.M.Zhang & D.Y.Hong - ChongqingDisporum kawakamii Hayata - TaiwanDisporum leucanthum H.Hara - S China, E HimalayasDisporum longistylum H.Hara - C + SW ChinaDisporum lutescens Koidz. - JapanDisporum megalanthum F.T.Wang & Tang - C ChinaDisporum nantouense S.S.Ying - TaiwanDisporum sessile D.Don - Japan, Korea, Kuril Is, SakhalinDisporum shimadae Hayata - TaiwanDisporum smilacinum A.Gray - Japan, Korea, Kuril Is, Sakhalin, ShandongDisporum tonkinense Koyama - N VietnamDisporum trabeculatum Gagnep. - S China, VietnamDisporum uniflorum Baker ex S.Moore - China, KoreaDisporum viridescens Nakai - China, Japan, Korea, Russian Far East
; Excluded species in North AmericaDisporum hookeri G.Nicholson – now Prosartes hookeri Torr. - Hooker's fairy bellsDisporum lanuginosum G.Nicholson – now Prosartes lanuginosa D.Don - yellow mandarinDisporum maculatum Britton – now Prosartes maculata A.Gray - spotted or nodding mandarinDisporum smithii Piper – now Prosartes smithii Utech, Shinwari & Kawano - Smith's fairy bellsDisporum trachycarpum Benth. & Hook.f. – now Prosartes trachycarpa S.Watson - rough-fruited fairy bells