黑萼棘豆 hei e ji dou

Herbs, usually 5-15(-17) cm tall, caulescent from a sim­ple to much-branched at least slightly subterranean sometimes rhizomatous caudex. Stems with (0 or)1-4 apparent internodes, basally with persistent stipules. Stipules ovate-triangular, herba­ceous, free from petiole, basally connate, apex acute. Leaves mainly (1.8-)4.5-16 cm, 9-25-foliolate; rachis thin, with sparse yellow long trichomes; leaflet blades ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 5-11 × 2-4 mm, both surfaces with sparse yellow, white, and black long trichomes, base rounded, apex acute. Ra­cemes compact, 3-10(-15)-flowered; peduncle 5.5-14 cm, slightly shorter to longer than leaves, thin, basally with white trichomes, apically with white and black trichomes intermixed; bracts longer than pedicels, membranous. Calyx campanulate, 4-9.2 × 2-3.5 mm, with black short trichomes intermixed with yellow and white trichomes; lobes lanceolate-linear, 2.5-4.7 mm, slightly shorter than tube. Corolla blue; standard (1-)1.1-1.4 cm, lamina broadly ovate, apex rounded to 2-lobed; wings (7.3-)8-11.6 mm, apex rounded to emarginate; keel 6.9-9.5(-11) mm, beak 0.2-1.1 mm. Legume sessile or with a stipe; body broadly oblong, 1.5-2 × 0.7-1.2 cm, pendulous, inflated, papery, 1-locular, with long trichomes. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.

● Hillsides, among scrub, grasslands, gravelly areas, alpine mead­ows among dwarf Salix on steep slopes, heavily grazed pasture/mead­ows in alpine areas, Larix forests; 2200-5100 m. Gansu, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan.