紫荆 zi jing

Cercis chinensis f. alba S. C. Hsu; C. chinensis f. pubes­cens C. F. Wei; C. chinensis f. rosea P. S. Hsu; C. pauciflora H. L. Li.

Shrubs, 2-5(-8) m tall. Bark and branchlets grayish white. Leaf blade greenish when young with only petiole slightly pur­ple, suborbicular or triangular-orbicular, 5-10 cm, ca. as long as wide or slightly longer than wide, papery, both surfaces usually glabrous, or abaxially puberulent on veins, base shallowly to deeply cordate, margin membranous, transparent when fresh, apex acute. Flowers purplish red, pink, or white, 1-1.3 cm, 2-10-clustered on old branches or especially on trunk; pedicel 3-9 mm; keel tinged with deep purple stripes. Ovary glabrous to densely puberulent; ovules 5-8. Legume greenish, becoming stramineous at maturity, compressed, narrowly oblong, 4-8 × 1-1.2 cm, dorsal and ventral suture equal or subequal, wing 1.5-2 mm, base long attenuate, apex acute or shortly acuminate, with slender and curved beak; stipe 2-4 mm. Seeds 2-6, blackish brown, shiny, broadly oblong, 5-6 × ca. 4 mm. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 14*.

● Dense forests or limestone areas, commonly cultivated. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhe­jiang.