Kirengeshoma palmata Yatabe

Herbs 0.8-1.2 m tall. Stems purplish. Petiole 1-25 cm; leaf blade near base of stem orbicular, 10-20 × 10-20 cm, palmately veined, base cordate, margin 3-10-lobed; leaf blade near apex of stem ovate to lanceolate, 3-7 × 3-7 cm, white appressed hairy on both surfaces, base subcordate, margin slightly lobed, apex acuminate. Inflorescences (1-)3-flowered. Flowers at center of inflorescence largest, ebracteolate; lateral flowers with a linear bracteole; pedicel 1-3(-4) cm. Calyx tube hemispheric, 7-10 mm in diam.; lobes deltoid. Petals 5, yellow, irregularly oblong-obovate to subovate, 2.5-3.5 × 10-15 mm. Outer series of stamens equaling petals; inner series shorter. Style ca. 2 cm. Capsule broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, ca. 1.3 cm in diam., smooth; style persistent. Seeds pale yellow, 7-10 × 3-5 mm. Fl. Apr-Mar, fr. May-Aug.

S Anhui (Huang Shan), NW Zhejiang (Tianmu Shan) [Japan].

Moist forests in valleys; 700-1800 m.

Kirengeshoma palmata, the yellow wax bells, is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to Japan and eastern China (Huangshan and Tianmushan). It is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial growing to 60–120 cm (24–47 in) tall by 75 cm (30 in) broad, with sycamore-like palmate leaves, and fleshy, pale yellow flowers borne on slender maroon stems in late summer. It is a calcifuge, suitable for cultivation in a shady, moist location in acid soil.