舞草 wu cao

Hedysarum motorium Houttuyn, Nat. Hist. 10: 246. 1779; Codoriocalyx gyrans (Linnaeus f.) Hasskarl; C. motorius var. glaber X. Y. Zhu & Y. F. Du; Desmodium gyrans (Linnaeus f.) Candolle; D. motorium (Houttuyn) Merrill; H. gyrans Lin­naeus f.

Shrubs, to 1.5 m tall. Stem simple or branched, glabrous. Leaves 3-foliolate, often 1-foliolate by reduction of lateral leaflets; petiole 1.1-2 cm; terminal leaflet blade narrowly ellip­tic or lanceolate, 5.5-10 × 1-2.5 cm, abaxially appressed pubes­cent, adaxially glabrous; lateral ones when present narrowly elliptic or linear, very small. Panicles or racemes; rachis with reflexed uncinate and straight rigid hairs. Pedicel 1-4 mm at anthesis, 3-7 mm in fruit. Calyx 2-2.5 mm; tube 1-1.5 mm; lower lobe dentate, upper lobe deeply 2-toothed at apex. Corol­la purplish red; standard 7.5-10 × 7.5-10 mm; wings 6.5-9.5 × 4-5 mm; keel 9-10 × ca. 3 mm, long clawed. Stamens 8-11 mm. Gynoecium 1-1.2 cm; ovary puberulent. Legume falcate or straight, with sparse short hooked hairs, dehiscent along lower suture when mature. Seeds 4-4.5 × 2.5-3 mm. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Oct-Nov. 2n = 22.

Mountain slopes, thickets; 200-1500 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philip­pines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].

The whole plant is used medicinally for dispelling stasis.