Description from
Flora of China
Caragana opulens var. perforata Merrgen & Y. Q. Ma; C. opulens var. trichophylla Z. H. Gao & S. C. Zhang.
Shrubs to 60 cm tall. Bark grayish brown. Branchlets bright gray. Leaves digitate, 4-foliolate; petiole 2-5 mm, persistent on long branchlets, caducous on short branchlets; leaflet blades obovate to oblanceolate, 3-12(-15) × 1-4(-8) mm, glabrous or pubescent, apex rounded to truncate. Flowers solitary. Pedicel 0.7-2.5 cm, articulate apically. Calyx tube campanulate-tubular, 8-10 mm, base gibbous. Corolla yellow but standard sometimes reddish; standard broadly obovate, 2-2.5 cm, apex emarginate; wings with claw slightly shorter than limb, auricle oblong; keel with claw slightly shorter than limb, auricle dentiform. Ovary glabrous. Legume cylindric, 2.5-4 cm, glabrous, apex acute. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Jul. 2n = 16*.
This is a polymorphic species with great variation. Whether Caragana opulens var. perforata and C. opulens var. trichophylla should be recognized requires further study.
● Dry slopes, valleys, hills; 1200-4700 m. Gansu, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, W Sichuan, Xizang.
