象鼻藤 xiang bi teng

Dalbergia millettii Bentham var. mimosoides (Franchet) Thothathri.

Shrubs, 4-6 m tall. Branches many, spreading; young shoots densely brown tomentose. Leaves 6-8(-10) cm; rachis, petiole, and petiolules densely pubescent initially, gradually glabrescent; stipules caducous, ovate, membranous; leaflets 21-35, linear-oblong, small, 6-12(-18) × 5-6 mm, both surfaces finely rusty pubescent especially abaxially on midvein when young, glabrous or nearly so when old, finely reticulate veinlets blackish when dry, base rounded or broadly cuneate, margin of young leaflets of flowering branches obscurely undulate, apex truncate, obtuse, or emarginate. Panicles axillary, shorter than leaves, 1-1.5 cm, with corymbose branches; peduncles, rachis, branches, and pedicels appressed pubescent. Flowers small, ca. 5 mm, slightly compact; bracteoles deciduous, ovate, pubes­cent. Calyx campanulate, sparsely puberulent; teeth ciliate, ovate except lowest lanceolate. Corolla white or pale yellow; petals shortly clawed; standard oblong-obovate, emarginate; wings obovate-oblong; keel elliptic. Stamens 9, occasionally 10, monadelphous; filaments alternately longer and shorter. Ovary stipitate, glabrous except lower suture sparsely pilose, 2- or 3-ovuled; style short; stigma small. Legume stipitate, oblong to strap-shaped, 3-6 × 1-2 cm, leathery, glabrous, retic­ulate opposite 1 seed, rarely 2-seeded, base obtuse or cuneate, apex acute. Seeds reniform, compressed, ca. 10 × 6 mm. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun-Aug.

● Open forests, ravines, among bushes on mountain slopes; 800-2000 m. Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang.