''Disporum'' (commonly known as fairy bells) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of about 20

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of perennial

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s, found in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

from northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, south to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and north into the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

Taxonomy

'' Disporum pullum'', from China, was first named by

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in 1812, but subsequent authors places it in other genera such as '' Streptopus'' and ''

Uvularia ''Uvularia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Colchicaceae, which is closely related to the lily family (Liliaceae). They are commonly called bellworts, bellflowers or merrybells. The genus name is derived from the Latin ''ūvula'' me ...

'', till

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

published the first valid description in 1825. In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family

Colchicaceae Colchicaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes 15 genera with a total of about 285 known species according to Christenhusz and Byng in 2016. Description The family is characterized by the presence of colchicine. Taxonomy The APG III ...

. The genus previously included five species in North America, but these have been separated as the genus ''

Prosartes ''Prosartes'', the fairybells, is a North American genus of flowering plants in the lily family. For several decades plants of this genus were considered part of the otherwise Asian genus ''Disporum''. Studies of morphology and cytology, as we ...

'' D.Don and moved to the family

Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fair ...

in accordance to differences in

karyology A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...

and chemistry as well as results from molecular systematic investigations. The type species is ''Disporum pullum'' Salisb., which is a synonym of ''Disporum cantoniense''. ; Species * '' Disporum acuminatissimum'' W.L.Sha -

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

* '' Disporum acuminatum'' C.H.Wright - Myanmar * '' Disporum bodinieri'' (H.Lév. & Vaniot) F.T.Wang & Tang -

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

* '' Disporum calcaratum'' D.Don - Yunnan, Himalayas, N Indochina * '' Disporum cantoniense'' (Lour.) Merr. - S China, S + SE Asia * '' Disporum hainanense'' Merr. -

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

* '' Disporum jinfoshanense'' X.Z.Li, D.M.Zhang & D.Y.Hong -

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

* '' Disporum kawakamii'' Hayata - Taiwan * '' Disporum leucanthum'' H.Hara - S China, E Himalayas * '' Disporum longistylum'' (Chinese fairy bells) (H.Lév. & Vaniot) H.Hara - C + SW China * '' Disporum lutescens'' Koidz. - Japan * '' Disporum megalanthum'' F.T.Wang & Tang - C China * '' Disporum nantouense'' S.S.Ying - Taiwan * '' Disporum sessile'' (Japanese fairy bells) (Thunb.) D.Don -

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, Kuril Is,

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

* '' Disporum shimadae'' Hayata - Taiwan * '' Disporum smilacinum'' A.Gray -

, Kuril Is,

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

* '' Disporum tonkinense'' Koyama - N Vietnam * '' Disporum trabeculatum'' Gagnep. - S China, Vietnam * '' Disporum uniflorum'' Baker ex S.Moore - China, Korea * '' Disporum viridescens'' (Maxim.) Nakai - China, Japan, Korea, Russian Far East ; Excluded species in North America * ''Disporum hookeri'' (Torr.) G.Nicholson – now ''

Prosartes hookeri ''Prosartes hookeri'' is a North American species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common names drops of gold and Hooker's fairy bells. Distribution It is native to western North America from Alberta and British Columbia t ...

'' Torr. - Hooker's fairy bells * ''Disporum lanuginosum'' (Michx.) G.Nicholson – now ''

Prosartes lanuginosa ''Prosartes lanuginosa'' is a North American plant species in the lily family with the common names yellow mandarin or yellow fairybells. ''Prosartes lanuginosa'' is native to the Great Smoky Mountains and occurs in many other parts of the A ...

'' (Michx.) D.Don - yellow mandarin * ''Disporum maculatum'' (Buckley) Britton – now ''

Prosartes maculata ''Prosartes maculata'' is a North American species of plants in the lily family with the common names yellow mandarin, spotted mandarin, or nodding mandarin. It is a perennial plant that flowers in the spring. It is a native plant of the Grea ...

'' (Buckley) A.Gray - spotted or nodding mandarin * ''Disporum smithii'' (Hook.) Piper – now ''

Prosartes smithii ''Prosartes smithii'' is a North American species of flowering plants known by the common name largeflower fairybells. It is native to western North America from Vancouver Island in British Columbia south as far as Monterey County in Californi ...

'' (Hook.) Utech, Shinwari & Kawano - Smith's fairy bells * ''Disporum trachycarpum'' (S.Watson) Benth. & Hook.f. – now ''

Prosartes trachycarpa ''Prosartes trachycarpa'', the roughfruit fairybells, rough-fruited fairybells or rough-fruited mandarin, is a North American species of plants in the lily family. The species is widespread, known from British Columbia to Ontario and south to ...

'' S.Watson - rough-fruited fairy bells

Notes

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment
Colchicaceae genera {{Liliales-stub