Abstract:The genus Cimicifuga L. ex Wernisch. (Ranunculaceae) is of a north temperate distribution. The occurrence of the species C. japonica (Thunb.) Spreng. on the tropical Hainan Island of China documented by Compton et al. (Taxon 47 : 620 and Appendix 1. 1998) caught our attention. Examination of the specimen cited by these authors, C. Wang 44305, however, has shown that this specimen was collected from Wuzhi Shan, Ruyuan County, northern Guangdong Province, China. Obviously Compton et al. had confused the Wuzhi Shan in northern Guangdong with a mountain on Hainan Island with the same name and much more well-known. The occurrence of C. japonica in Yunnan Province of China documented by Compton et al. (Taxon 47 : 620 and Appendix 1. 1998) is also erroneous. The specimen they cited, J. Cavalerie 7868, was actually collected from the vicinity of Guiding County, Guizhou Province. In China, C. japonica is currently known only from Anhui, Chongqing, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Zhejiang.