棱荚蝶豆 leng jia die dou

?Clitoria cajanifolia Bentham.

Shrublets, erect or almost erect, 0.8-1 m tall. Branchlets subterete, densely pubescent, glabrescent. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; stipules ovate to ovate-lanceolate, pubescent; petiole 2-7 mm, pubescent; stipels small, bristlelike; petiolules 2-3 mm, pubescent; leaflets obovate-oblong to oblong, 4.5-7 × 1.5-2.8 cm, almost leathery, abaxially densely adpressed pubescent, adaxially glabrous, lateral veins 5-7 pairs, obvious, reticulate veins dense, visible, base rounded or cuneate, apex rounded, slightly emarginate. Raceme axillary, 2.5-5 cm, sparsely shortly villous; peduncle ca. 3 cm; bracts small, ovate. Flowers large, ca. 4 cm, usually paired; bracteoles 2, elliptic, 7-8 mm. Calyx membranous, 5-lobed; lobes ovate, much shorter than tube. Corolla light purple, 2 × or more as long as calyx; standard al­most orbicular, base clawed, apex emarginate; wings rhomboid, base long clawed with small auricles; keels semicircular, base long clawed. Legume brown or light brown, linear-ellipsoid, 3-4 cm, inflated, with short beak, near ventral suture with 1 longi­tudinal rib at each side, clothed with micro-villous hairs. Seed dark brown, suborbicular. Fl. Jul, fr. Aug-Dec.

Below 600 m. Guangdong [India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Africa, Americas].

This species has been grown as a green manure and as an eco­logical plant for soil restoration.