小叶锦鸡儿 xiao ye jin ji er

Caragana microphylla f. cinerea Komarov; C. micro­phylla f. daurica Komarov; C. microphylla f. pallasiana Komarov; C. microphylla f. viridis Komarov.

Shrubs to 2(-3) m tall. Branches dark gray to dark green; branchlets glabrous or tomentose. Stipules spinelike, 1.5-5 mm, usually obliquely erect. Leaves pinnate, 10-20-foliolate; petiole and rachis caducous; leaflet blades obovate to obovate-oblong, 3-10 × 2-8 mm, glabrous, pubescent, or tomentose, apex ob­tuse to truncate. Flowers solitary. Pedicel ca. 1 cm, articulate near middle. Calyx tube tubular-campanulate, 0.9-1.2 cm, gla­brous or tomentose. Corolla yellow, ca. 2.5 cm; standard broadly ovate, claw short, apex minutely emarginate; wings with claw ca. 1/2 as long as limb, auricle short and dentiform; keel with a claw as long as limb, auricle inconspicuous. Ovary often glabrous. Legume cylindric, 4-5 cm × 4-5 mm. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Aug. 2n = 16.

Consolidated and semiconsolidated sand dunes, rocky mountain slopes; 1000-2000 m. Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol [Mongolia, Russia (Siberia)].

Caragana microphylla is a polymorphic species and in some cases with transitional forms. Hybrids between this species and C. korshin­skii may occur where these species are sympatric.

This species is planted for dune stabilization and for soil and water conservation.