Mezonevron sinense Hemsley, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 23: 204. 1887; Caesalpinia parvifolia Steudel; C. stenoptera Merrill; C. tsoongii Merrill; M. sinense var. parvifolium Hemsley.

Climbers. Stems and branchlets with scattered, robust, recurved prickles. Young shoots ± ferruginous pubescent, gla­brescent or subglabrous when old. Leaves bipinnate; rachis with recurved prickles; petiolules short; pinnae 2 or 3 pairs, ca. 30 cm; leaflets 2 pairs, adaxially light green to olive-green, slightly shiny, oblong to ovate, 6-9 × 2.5-3.5 cm, leathery, abaxially hairy on midvein, adaxially glabrous, lateral veins ca. 20 pairs, conspicuous, base rounded or oblique, apex acuminate, acute, or obtuse. Panicles axillary or terminal. Pedicels ca. 5 mm. Sepals 5, ca. 4 × 3 mm. Petals 5, yellow, ca. 7 mm, with claw ca. 3 mm. Stamens 10; filaments ca. 1 cm, ferruginous pubes­cent in lower part. Pistil longer than stamens; ovary subsessile, pubescent or subglabrous, 1- or 2(-4)-ovuled. Legume chest­nut-brown, compressed, suborbicular, ca. 4.5 × 3.5 cm, leathery, conspicuously reticulate, ventral suture slightly curved, nar­rowly winged, wing ca. 3 mm wide, apex with beak ca. 3 mm. Seed solitary, compressed, suborbicular, ca. 2 cm in diam. Fl. Mar-May, fr. Mar-Apr, Jul-Oct.

Forests, among bushes; 100-900 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Gui­zhou, Hubei, Yunnan [Laos, Myanmar, N Vietnam].