中亚锦鸡儿 zhong ya jin ji er

Robinia tragacanthoides Pallas, Nova Acta Acad. Sci. Imp. Petrop. Hist. Acad. 10: 371. 1797; Caragana hololeuca Bunge ex Komarov.

Shrubs to 1 m tall. Old branches yellow. Leaves pinnate on long branchlets and 4- or 6-foliolate, pinnate or digitate on short branchlets and 4-foliolate; petiole and rachis 0.8-2.5 cm, arched to spreading, and persistent on long branchlets, 5-12 mm and persistent or caducous on short branchlets; leaflet blades nar­rowly oblanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, 6-12(-15) × (1.5-)2-4 mm. Flowers solitary. Pedicel 2.5-4 mm, articulate basally. Calyx tube tubular, 1-1.2 cm. Corolla yellow, 2-2.2 cm; stan­dard obovate, claw ± as long as limb; wings with claw ± as long as limb, auricle ca. 1/2 as long as or slightly shorter than claw; keel claw ± as long as limb, auricle short. Ovary densely pu­bescent. Legume cylindric, 1.2-2.5(-3) cm, densely villous. Fl. May, fr. Jul.

Rocky slopes in mountains, scrub in mixed steppes; 700-1300 m. Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia].

Only the typical variety occurs in China. Caragana tragacan­thoides var. himalaica Komarov occurs in Kashmir and Nepal, but its taxonomic status is uncertain.

Plants misidentified as Caragana bongardiana (Fischer & C. A. Meyer) Pojarkova in FRPS (42(1): 35. 1993) belong here.