8. Caesalpinia vernalis Champion ex Bentham, Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 4: 77. 1852.
春云实 chun yun shi
Climbers, prickly, ferruginous velutinous throughout. Leaves with 25-30 cm, pubescent, prickly rachis; pinnae 8-16 pairs, 5-8 cm; petiolules 1.5-2 mm; leaflets 6-10 pairs, abaxially glaucous, adaxially deep green and shiny, ovate-lanceolate, ovate, or elliptic, 1.2-2.5 cm × 6-12 mm, leathery, abaxially sparsely ferruginous velutinous, adaxially glabrous, base rounded, apex acute. Panicles in axils of upper leaves or terminal, with abundant flowers. Pedicels 7-9 mm. Sepals obovate-oblong, ciliate, lower one larger than others, ca. 1 cm. Petals yellow, upper one smaller, revolute, with red stripes. Stamens apically descending, lower part of filaments pubescent. Ovary with short stalk, puberulent, 2-ovuled; style thick; stigma obliquely truncate. Legume blackish purple, obliquely oblong, 4-6 × 2.5-3.5 cm, woody, wrinkled, without reticulate veins, apex beaked. Seeds 2, shiny, axe-shaped, ca. 1.7 × 2 cm, truncate and slightly concave on one end. Fl. Apr, fr. Dec.
● Moist sandy soils, beside rocks along valleys, thickets; ca. 600 m. S Fujian, Guangdong, S Zhejiang.