An evergreen, semi-woody plant with prostrate root-stocks, from which rise the young stems 4 to 10 in. high, at first minutely downy. Leaves three to six near the summit of each stem, ovate, broadly wedge-shaped or rounded and entire at the base, coarsely toothed at the upper part, 2 to 4 in. long, 11⁄4 to 21⁄4 in. wide. Flowers white, produced in April in erect spikes 3⁄4 to 1 in. long, from the axils of the leaves. Fruits about the size of a pea, with two or three long, curly-ended styles persisting at the top.
Native of China; discovered in Yunnan by the Abbé Delavay; introduced by Wilson in 1901. Of little beauty, it may by lovers of curiosities be given a place in some shady corner of the rock garden.