中华胡枝子 zhong hua hu zhi zi

Lespedeza canescens Ricker; L. chinensis var. nokoensis Ohwi; L. formosensis Hosokawa.

Subshrubs, small, to 1 m tall, adpressed white hairy throughout. Stems erect or diffuse. Leaves 3-foliolate; petiole ca. 1 cm; leaflets obovate-oblong, oblong, or ovate-obovate, ter­minal one 1.5-4 × 1-1.5 cm, margin slightly involute, apex truncate, subtruncate, emarginate, or obtuse, mucronate. Ra­cemes axillary, not overtopping leaves, few flowered; peduncle short. Pedicel 1-2 mm. Calyx 5-parted; lobes narrowly lanceo­late. Corolla white or yellow; standard elliptic, ca. 7 × 3 mm, clawed and with 2 auriculate appendages at base; wings nar­rowly oblong, ca. 6 mm, long clawed; keel ca. 8 mm. Cleistog­amous flowers clustered in leaf axils of lower stems. Legume ovoid, ca. 4 × 2.5-3 mm, reticulate veined, densely adpressed white hairy, base slightly oblique, apex rostrate. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Oct-Nov.

● Thickets, forest margins, roadsides, mountain slopes, grass­lands, forests; below 2500 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Hubei, Hu­nan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang.