Sophora alpina Pallas, Sp. Astragal. 121. 1803; Thermop­sis alpestris Czefranova; T. alpina var. licentiana (E. Peter) Z. X. Peng & Y. M. Yuan; T. alpina var. yunnanensis Franchet; T. licentiana E. Peter; T. yunnanensis (Franchet) P. C. Li.

Perennial herbs, 12-30 cm tall, from a substantial woody rootstock. Stems erect, simple or few branched, white spreading villous at least on nodes. Stipules ovate or broadly lanceolate, 2-3.5 cm, base cuneate or rounded, apex acute; leaflets linear-obovate to ovate, 2-5.5 × 0.8-2.5 cm, usually densely villous abaxially, glabrous or villous along midrib and margins adaxi­ally, apex acute. Racemes terminal, 5-15 cm; flowers 2 or 3 verticillate in 2 or 3 whorls; bracts 10-18 mm, villous. Calyx 10-17 mm, slightly gibbous. Corolla yellow, 2-2.8 cm, petals long clawed. Ovary 4-8-ovuled; stipe 2-5 mm. Legume clear shiny brown, ovate-oblong, 2-5(-6) × 1-2 cm, flat, usually curved downward, sparsely white villous, long cuspidate. Seeds 3 or 4, prominent, brown, reniform, 5-6 × 3-4 mm, com­pressed; hilum gray. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jul-Aug.

Sandy river beaches, alpine tundra, gravel deserts; 2400-4800 m. SW Gansu, Hebei, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Ka­zakhstan, Mongolia, Russia].