PARIS
Paris are perennial herbs arising from a rhizome that may be thin or tuberous. Atop a simple stem sits a solitary whorl of from 4 to 22+ leaves. Solitary, bisexual flowers sit atop a simple flower stalk The green or red ovary may have one chamber or 4+. One chambered plants are called Daiswa. The style base may be purplish, red, white or yellow. Seeds may or may not have an aril and can be red, white or brown. Tepals are arranged in 2 whorls of 3-8: outer ones are green, rarely white; inner ones may be absent and can be green, purplish or yellow-green. Stamens are arranged in 2-3 whorls, filaments are flat and narrow, free portion of the connective may be relatively long, short, or globose.
Recent publications have split Paris into Paris, Daiswa and Kinugasa. For simplicity we will refer to all of the non-trillium Trilliaceae as Paris.
Paris are native to Eurasian temperate, deciduous woodlands. They prefer mildly acid to acidic, moisture retentive, rich, light, well drained woodsy soils with deciduous leaf mulch in the fall. They may go dormant in the late summer and resent transplanting. Best in USDA zones 5-8, impossible in tropical Florida, very difficult in Southern California or the desert Southwest. Plants may take from 4-7 years to flower from seed.
Helpful links:
Susan Farmer’s searchable 
DELTA dataset
A key to the 20+ Chinese species may be found at the online Flora of China
Information above furnished by Mark Mazer as part of the PBSlist May 2004 topic of the week.
Introduction
Paris delavayi is from North West China and Vietnam. Photos from Mark Mazer.
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