帚黄耆 zhou huang qi

Astragalus scoparius f. minutus Lipsky.

Plants subacaulescent, 16-30(-40) cm tall, vegetative parts with ± medifixed, appressed, white hairs 0.5-1 mm. Stems several, up to 2.5 cm, very densely hairy. Leaves 6-10(-13) cm; stipules 3-4 mm, hairy; petiole 2-5 cm, like rachis densely hairy; leaflets in 3-6 pairs, narrowly elliptic, 5-15(-18) × 2-4(-7) mm, both surfaces loosely to rather densely hairy, apex acute to acuminate. Racemes 7-22 cm, remotely 10-20-flow­ered; peduncle 10-22 cm, rather densely white hairy; bracts 1-1.5 mm, subglabrous. Calyx 6-7 mm, loosely to rather densely white and black hairy; teeth unequal, 0.8-1.5 mm. Petals violet; standard obovate, 15-18 × 6-7 mm, apex emarginate; wings 14-15 mm, limbs incised to deeply unequally bilobed; keel 10-11 mm. Legumes sessile, erect, narrowly ellipsoid, 6-10 mm, 3-3.5 mm high and 2.8-3 mm wide, with a slender style 3-4 mm; valves rather densely covered with ± appressed, ± medi­fixed, white and black hairs, partly glabrescent with age.

Stony mountain slopes; 700-1500 m. Xinjiang [Kazakhstan].

The Chinese record of Astragalus pseudoscoparius Gontscharow (FRPS 42(1): 265. 1993) is referable to A. scoparius.