滇南山蚂蝗 dian nan shan ma huang

Shrubs, 1-4 m tall. Young branches white pubescent, gla­brescent. Leaves 3-foliolate; petiole 3-7 cm; terminal leaflet blade ovate or broadly ovate, occasionally rhombic or nearly orbicular, 8-15 × 6-9 cm, abaxially densely sericeous or sparsely pubescent, adaxially puberulent, base oblique, margin entire to shallowly crenate. Inflorescences 10-40 cm, terminal ones mostly paniculate, axillary ones racemose or paniculate, 2- or 3-flowered at each node; peduncle, pedicel, and calyx hairy or nearly glabrous. Pedicel 4-11 mm. Calyx 4-lobed. Corolla purple, 1-1.3 cm; standard elliptic or broadly elliptic, clawed; wings and keel long clawed; keel often hooked hairy at apex. Stamens ca. 1 cm. Ovary adpressed pubescent. Legume flat, both sutures shallowly constricted, 6-8-jointed; articles 6-7 × 5-7 mm or larger, with minute hooked hairs, sometimes inter­mixed with straight hairs or glabrous.

Mountain slopes, forest margins, forests; 700-1900 m. S and SE Yunnan [India (Assam), Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam].

Lower Taxa

• Desmodium megaphyllum var. glabrescens Prain
• Desmodium megaphyllum var. megaphyllum