Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Makino

Perennial with globose tuber 1-2 cm in diam. Leaves 2-5; petiole 15-20 cm long, base sheathing, bulbils present in sheath, at lower or middle portion of petiole as well as at base of leaf blade; leaf blade trifoliolate, sometimes pedate with 5 leaflets; leaflets oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, green above, greenish below, acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, anterior leaflet 3-10 × 1-3 cm; lateral leaflets (3-)4-7.5 × 1.8-2.3 cm; 7-9(-10) primary lateral veins per side, forming a collective vein along margin. Inflorescence with peduncle longer than petioles, 25-35 cm long; peduncle 15-25 cm long; spathe 6-7 cm long, greenish or whitish green, rarely purplish, tube narrowly cylindric, 1.5-2 cm long, limb oblong, green and usually violet at margin, 4-5 × 1.5 cm, obtuse or acute at apex; spadix 9-10 cm long; female zone c. 2 cm long; male zone 5-7 mm long; sterile zone between female and male flowers 3 mm long; appendix 6-7(-8) cm long, green to violet, erect or sigmoid. Female flowers densely arranged; pistil 2.1-2.2 mm long, ovary ovoid, c. 1.8 mm long and 1-1.1 mm in diam., style distinct, attenuate, stigma very small, c. 0.2 mm in diam., not broader than style. Male flowers with thecae elongate, c. 1.2 mm long, opening by a slit. Berries ovoid, yellow green to whitish, with persistent stigma and style, 1-seeded.

Growing in grassy land, secondary forests, wasteland and cultivated land; below 2500 m, widely distributed over China excluding Nei Mongolia, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Xizang, further in central and southern Japan and Korea. Naturalized in Europe, North America and Australia.

Flowering from May to July, fruiting from July to September.