Table 3.

Morphological differences amongst Polygonatumcyrtonema, P.odoratum, P.caulialatum and P.praecox.

	P.cyrtonema	P.odoratum	P.caulialatum	P.praecox
Rhizome	usually gingeriform, 1–2.5 cm thick	terete, 0.5–1.0 cm thick	moniliform, 1.5–2.5 cm thick	moniliform, 1.5–2.5 cm thick
Stem	50–100 cm, terete	20–60 cm, upper part angled	40–80 cm, upper part angled	40–80 cm, terete
Inflorescence	umbel-like, 2–7(–14) flowered	raceme, 1–3(–5) flowered	raceme, 1–2(–3) flowered	raceme, 1–3(–4) flowered
Filament	papillose or shortly cottony, apex slightly dilated or saccate-convex	cylindrical and extending inwardly, smooth or verruculose	cylindrical and extending inwardly, smooth and glabrous	cylindrical and extending inwardly, smooth and glabrous
Corolla	yellowish-green, lobes excurved	green-white, lobes slightly excurved	green-white, lobes not excurved, crown slightly constricted	yellowish-green, lobes excurved
Flower phenology	late April to late May	mid-March to early April	May to June	mid-March to early April