Fritillaria cantoniensis Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 1: 206. 1790; Disporum cantoniense var. brunneum (C. H. Wright) Handel-Mazzetti; D. cantoniense f. brunneum (C. H. Wright) H. Hara; D. chinense (Ker Gawler) Kuntze; D. pullum Salisbury ex J. D. Hooker; D. pullum var. brunneum C. H. Wright; Streptopus chinensis (Ker Gawler) Smith; Uvularia chinensis Ker Gawler.

Rhizome creeping, thick, without stolon. Stem usually branched distally, 50--100(--150) cm. Petiole 2--4 mm; leaves lanceolate to narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 5--12 × 1--5 cm. Inflorescences terminal and pseudolateral, (2 or)3--10-flowered; peduncle usually distinct; pedicels 1--4 cm, usually papillose-scabrous. Flowers slightly opening. Tepals purplish, oblanceolate, 1.5--2.5(--2.8) cm × 4--5 mm, base gibbous-spurred, apex subacute and without dense papillae; spurs 2--3 mm. Stamens 0.8--1.5 cm, included; filaments 8--11 mm; anthers 3--4 mm. Ovary ca. 3 mm. Style 0.7--1.5 cm. Berries 8--10 mm in diam., 2- or 3(--5)-seeded. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Aug--Oct. 2 n = 14, 16.

Forests, thickets; 700--3000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim, Thailand, Vietnam].