短叶胡枝子 duan ye hu zhi zi

Subshrubs, ca. 60 cm tall. Stems erect, tomentose at upper part, downward gradually more sparsely so. Leaves 3-foliolate; petiole 5-6 mm; leaflets obovate or obcordate, terminal one 1-2 × 1-1.3 cm, abaxially densely hirsute, more densely so on mid­vein, adaxially sparsely adpressed hairy, base broadly cuneate, apex truncate or emarginate. Racemes axillary, few flowered. Calyx ca. 4 mm, 5-parted; lobes narrowly lanceolate, ca. 3 mm, apex aristate. Corolla yellow or white; standard ca. 6 mm, shortly clawed; wings oblong, ca. 7 mm, clawed; keel ca. 7 mm. Cleistogamous flowers clustered in leaf axils of lower stems, fruit-bearing. Legume ovoid to broadly ovoid, 3-4 × 2-3 mm, slightly overtopping persistent calyx, apex mucronate. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct.

● Arid sandy places. Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Zhejiang.

Two of us (Ohashi and Nemoto) regard this species as conspecific with Lespedeza chinensis.