驴食草 lü shi cao

Onobrychis sativa Lamarck.

Herbs, perennial, 0.5-1.2 m tall. Stems erect, caespitose. Stipules triangular-ovate, 7-9 mm, connate farther than middle. Leaves 10-18 cm, 13-19-foliolate; leaflet blades oblong-lan­ceolate to lanceolate, 2-3 × 0.4-1 cm, abaxially appressed pu­bescent, adaxially glabrous. Racemes densely spicate, with many flowers; bracts lanceolate, ca. 2 × as long as pedicel; pe­duncle conspicuously longer than leaves. Pedicel ca. 1 mm. Ca­lyx campanulate, 6-8 mm, villous; teeth subulate-lanceolate, 2-2.5 × as long as tube. Corolla pinkish purple; standard obovate, 8-10 mm; wings ca. 1/4 as long as standard; keel ± as long as standard. Ovary densely appressed pubescent. Legume with 1 article; article subglobose, 5-6 mm in diam., inflated, margin thickened and adaxially with prickles. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Jul-Aug.

Cultivated. Gansu, Hebei, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi [probably native to C Europe].

This species is a good fodder plant and is also important for water and soil conservation in loess plateau areas.