Epimedium cremeum Nakai & Maekawa ex Honda; E. grandiflorum C. Morren subsp. koreanum (Nakai) Kitamura; E. grandiflorum var. koreanum (Nakai) K. Suzuki; E. sulphurellum Nakai (1944), not C. Morren (1849).

Herbs, 15-40 cm tall. Rhizome creeping, 3-5 mm in diam. Leaves basal and cauline, biternate, usually 9-foliolate; leaflets abaxially pallid, adaxially dark green, ovate, 3-13 × 2-8 cm, papery, abaxially glabrous or sparsely puberulent, adaxially glabrous, base deeply cordate with usually rounded lobes, base of lateral leaflets conspicuously oblique with outer lobe large, deltoid, and acute, inner lobe smaller and rounded, margin minutely serrate, apex acute or acuminate. Flowering stem with 1 biternate leaf. Inflorescence a simple raceme, 4-16-flowered, 10-15 cm, glabrous or pilose. Pedicel 1-2 cm. Flowers white, pale yellow, deep rose, or violet, 2-4.5 cm in diam. Outer sepals reddish, oblong, 4-5 mm; inner sepals narrowly ovate to lanceolate, flat, 8-18 × 3-6 mm, apically acute. Petals usually much longer than inner sepals, rounded; spurs slender, elongate, tapering-subulate, 1-2 cm. Stamens ca. 6 mm; anthers ca. 4.5 mm; filaments ca. 1.5 mm. Pistil ca. 8 mm; ovary ca. 4.5 mm; style ca. 3.5 mm. Capsules narrowly fusiform, ca. 6 mm; style ca. 2 mm. Seeds 6-8. Fl. Apr-May, fr. May. 2n = 12.

Forests, thickets; 400-1500 m. Anhui, Jilin, Liaoning, Zhejiang [Japan, N Korea].