坚硬黄耆 jian ying huang qi

Plants 4-8 cm tall, subacaulescent to shortly caulescent, with appressed to subappressed hairs 0.1-0.3 mm. Stems up to 3 cm, glabrous or nearly so. Leaves 3-7 cm; stipules 3-5 mm, adnate to petiole for 1-2 mm, sometimes distinctly connate be­fore petiole, shortly connate behind stem, glabrous or ciliate; petiole 1-2 cm, like rachis glabrous or with scattered hairs only; leaflets in 8-11 pairs, narrowly elliptic, 4-9 × 1-3.5 mm, abax­ially sparsely to loosely covered with subappressed to slightly ascending white hairs, adaxially glabrous, apex obtuse to sub­acute. Racemes rather densely 4-7-flowered; peduncle 0.3-0.7 cm, rather densely subappressed white or black hairy; bracts 3-4 mm, sparsely to loosely black hairy or subglabrous. Calyx 4-6 mm, densely appressed black hairy; teeth 2-3 mm. Petals purple-red; standard elliptic, 9-11 × 4.5-5 mm, apex emargi­nate; wings 7-9 mm; keel ca. 6 mm. Legumes sessile, ellipsoid, inflated, ca. 20 mm, ca. 8 mm high and wide, scarcely keeled ventrally by prominent nerve, acuminate at apex, incompletely 2-locular; valves sparsely appressed black hairy, glabrous or nearly so when fully ripe.

Alpine slopes; 4000-4500 m. Xizang [Bhutan, India (Sikkim)].