Amblytropis Kitagawa (1936), nom. illeg. superfl., not (Mitten) Brotherus (1907).

Herbs, perennial. Taproot thick. Stem very short or nearly absent, with a rosette of leaves at soil surface. Leaves imparipinnate, rarely 1-foliolate; stipules adnate to petiole or free; stipels absent; petiolule short or leaflets nearly sessile; leaflets ovate, lanceolate, elliptic, oblong, or linear, rarely orbicular. Flowers purple, pink, or yellow, 3-8(-12) per umbel on axillary peduncles. Calyx campanulate, densely appressed villous, rarely glabrous, 5-toothed; upper 2 teeth broader. Standard ovate or orbicular, narrowing to claw at base, retuse at apex; wings free, obovate-oblong, slightly shorter than standard; keel ovate, very short. Stamens diadelphous. Ovary sessile, many ovuled; style short, rolled inward at apex; stigma broad. Legume cylindric or linear, not septate, with many seeds. Seeds triangular-reniform.

About 12 species: from Russia (Siberia) to the Sino-Himalayan region; three species (two endemic) in China.

(Authors: Bao Bojian (包伯坚); Anthony R. Brach)