西太白棘豆 xi tai bai ji dou

Herbs, 10-13 cm tall, caulescent, arising from a multi­headed buried caudex. Stems slender, caespitose, spreading, as­cending, or erect, with 2 or more apparent internodes. Stipules narrowly triangular, 3-5 mm, membranous, with sparse tri­chomes, basally connate, margin ciliate, apex acute. Leaves 5-10 cm, 13-21-foliolate; petiole and rachis thin, sparsely pubes­cent; leaflet blades ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or elliptic, 8-10 × 2-4 mm, both surfaces with subappressed white trichomes, base rounded, apex acute. Racemes rather lax, 3-5-flowered; pedun­cle 5-6 cm, as long as or shorter than leaves, with sparse tri­chomes; bracts subulate, ca. 2 mm, membranous, sparsely pi­lose. Calyx campanulate, ca. 4 × 3 mm; lobes linear, 2-3 mm. Corolla purplish; standard ca. 11 × 3 mm, lamina elliptic; wings ca. 1 cm, lamina oblong, apex rounded; keel ca. 9.5 mm, beak ca. 1.5 mm. Legume stipitate; stipe ca. 7 mm; body oblong-ellipsoid, ca. 2.3 × 0.4 cm, inflated and slightly flattened, 1-loc­ular, with dense white short trichomes, base narrowly cuneate, apex acute, beak ca. 3 mm. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Aug.

● Gravelly valley bottoms, hillsides; 1800-2000 m. Shaanxi.

Lower Taxa

• Oxytropis sitaipaiensis var. brevidentata (C. W. Chang) X. Y. Zhu & H. Ohashi
• Oxytropis sitaipaiensis var. sitaipaiensis