青海野决明 qing hai ye jue ming

Thermopsis kuenlunica Czefranova; T. ladyginii Czefran­ova; T. tibetica Czefranova.

Perennial herbs, 10-18(-35) cm tall. Stems erect, branched, ridged, densely pale yellow appressed pubescent or tomentose. Stipules lanceolate, 1.7-2.4(-3.2) cm; petiole 3-7 mm; leaflets narrowly obovate, 1.7-3.8(-4.2) × 0.7-1.2 cm, 2.5-3 × as long as broad, appressed pubescent abaxially, gla­brous adaxially, base cuneate, apex rounded. Racemes terminal, lax, 5-11(-20) cm, basal racemes shorter; flowers in 3-6 whorls; bracts ovate, acute, 1.5-2.2 cm. Calyx 1.8-2.1 mm. Co­rolla yellow, 2.2-2.7 cm. Ovary 10-18-ovuled, densely hairy; stipe 4-8 mm. Legume straight, linear, 3.5-5 × 0.8-1.5 cm, abruptly contracted into long beak, thinly tomentose, spreading, contracted between seeds. Seeds 6-12, prominent, dark green, orbicular or suborbicular, 3.5-4.5 × 3-4 mm; hilum gray. Fl. May-Jul.

● Thickets or grasslands by ravines, valleys, and lakes, often with Thermopsis alpina; 1500-2000(-4600) m. Gansu, Nei Mongol, Qing­hai, Shaanxi, Xizang.

This is probably a synonym of Thermopsis alpina.