云南山蚂蝗 yun nan shan ma huang

Desmodium praestans Forrest; D. rockii Schindler; D. yunnanense subsp. praestans (Forrest) H. Ohashi; D. yunnan­ense var. rockii (Schindler) Y. C. Yang & P. H. Huang.

Shrubs, 1.2-3 m tall, much branched. Young branches densely white or gray tomentose, becoming glabrous. Leaves 3- or 1-foliolate; petiole 1-4 cm, hairy as young branches; termi­nal leaflet blade nearly orbicular, ovate, or obovate, 5-22 × 5-17 cm, abaxially densely gray or white tomentose, adaxially sparsely pubescent, margin entire or undulate. Panicles termi­nal, large, 16-27 cm; rachis shortly tomentose, 2-6-flowered at each node. Pedicel 0.6-1 cm, tomentose. Calyx 3-4.5 mm, 4-lobed; lobes ca. as long as tube or shorter. Corolla pink or pur­ple, 1-1.3 cm; standard nearly orbicular or broadly elliptic, base shortly clawed, apex concave or emarginate; wings auriculate and clawed; keel shorter, clawed. Ovary pubescent. Legume compressed, 4-6 × ca. 0.5 cm, hairy when young, becoming glabrous, lower suture undulate, upper suture nearly straight, 4-7-jointed; articles 7-9 mm, reticulate veined. Fl. Aug-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 22*.

● Gravelly places, wastelands, grassy slopes, thickets, margins of Pinus-Quercus forests; 1000-2200 m. SW Sichuan, NW Yunnan.