Desmodium subg. Dendrolobium Wight & Arnott, Prodr. Fl. Ind. Orient. 223. 1834.

Shrubs or small trees. Leaves 3-foliolate or rarely 1-foliolate, stipulate and stipellate; leaflets entire or shallowly undulate, ter­minal leaflet larger than lateral ones, lateral leaflets often oblique at base. Inflorescences axillary, subumbellate or umbellate to shortly racemose, densely flowered; bracts scarious, striate. Calyx campanulate or tubular, 5-lobed; upper 2 lobes connate, appearing 4-lobed or minutely 2-toothed at apex; lower lobe longer than others. Corolla white or pale yellow; standard obovate, elliptic, or nearly orbicular, clawed, not auriculate; wings narrowly oblong, clawed, auriculate or not. Stamens monadelphous. Ovary sessile, (1 or)2-8-ovuled. Legume ± moniliform, 1-8-jointed, indehiscent when mature. Seed distinctly rim-arillate; cotyledons epigeous.

Eighteen species: tropical and subtropical Asia and Australia; five species (one endemic) in China.

(Authors: Huang Puhua (黄普华 Huang Pu-hwa); Hiroyoshi Ohashi)