Pachysandra terminalis Siebold & Zucc.
Pachysandra, Japanese spurge, Japanese pachysandra
Japanese pachysandra is native to Japan and northern and central China. It has escaped in eastern North America, and is a borderline invasive in some areas.
Plants: An evergreen ground cover, forming thick mats 10″ (25 cm) tall.
Leaves: Medium green, darkening to dark green, glossy or waxy looking, and alternate. They are oval in shape, toothed at the far end, 2–3½ ⨉ ½–1¼″ (5–8.9 ⨉ 1.3–3.2 cm).
Flowers: Fragrant, white to cream-colored, in clusters above the foliage 1–2″ (2.5–5 cm) in size. They appear from late March to early April.
Fruits: Tiny white fruits occur only sometimes and are easily missed.
Habitats: Forest and meadow edges.
Online References:
3/18/2012 · Gunpowder Falls State Park, Phoenix Rd., Phoenix, Maryland · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm) 
3/18/2012 · Gunpowder Falls State Park, Phoenix Rd., Phoenix, Maryland · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm) 
4/8/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Malpighiales | A broad group encompassing 16,000 species |
| Family | Buxaceae | The “box” or “boxwood” family |
| Genus | Pachysandra | From pachys, “thick,” and aner, for “stamen,” for the thickened white filaments |
| Species | terminalis | “Terminal, marking boundaries” |
Pachysandra terminalis description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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