猫尾草 mao wei cao

Hedysarum crinitum Linnaeus, Mant. Pl. 1: 102. 1767; Doodia crinita (Linnaeus) Roxburgh; Hedysarum comosum Vahl; Uraria comosa (Vahl) Candolle; U. cornosa Spanoghe; U. crinita var. macrostachya Wallich; U. macrostachya (Wal­lich) Prain.

Subshrubs, 1-1.5 m tall. Stems erect, gray pubescent. Leaves imparipinnate; petiole 5.5-15 cm, gray-white pubes­cent; leaflets usually 3 on lower stem, 5(or 7) above; leaflet blades oblong, ovate-lanceolate, or ovate, terminal one 6-15 × 3-8 cm, abaxially pubescent on veins, adaxially glabrous or slightly gray pubescent on midvein, base rounded to slightly cordate, apex slightly acute, obtuse, or rounded. Racemes ter­minal, 15-30 cm or longer, stout, densely gray-white hirsute. Pedicel 6-12 mm in flower, elongated to 1-1.5 cm after an­thesis, hooked, with short uncinate and long white hairs. Calyx shallowly cup-shaped, long white hirsute; lower lobes ca. 3.5 mm, upper lobes ca. 3 mm. Corolla purple, 6-9 mm. Legume slightly pubescent; articles (2-)5 or 6, elliptic, reticulate veined. Fl. and fr. Apr-Sep.

Dry waste slopes, roadsides, thickets; below 900 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan [Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan (S Ryukyu Islands), Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam; N Australia].

The whole plant is used medicinally for stopping bleeding, re­ducing fever, and relieving coughs.