毛排钱树 mao pai qian shu

Hedysarum elegans Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 2: 450. 1790; Desmodium blandum Meeuwen; D. elegans (Loureiro) Ben­tham (1861), not Candolle (1825); Dicerma elegans (Loureiro) Candolle.

Shrubs, 0.5-1.5 m tall. Branchlets and petioles densely yellow tomentose. Petiole ca. 5 mm; terminal leaflet blade ovate or elliptic to obovate, 7-10 × 3-5 cm, lateral ones obliquely ovate, ca. 1/2 as long as terminal one, both surfaces densely tomentose especially abaxially, lateral veins 9 or 10 on each side of midvein, both ends obtuse. Flowers 4-9, enclosed by a pair of leaflike bracts; bracts broadly elliptic, 1.4-3.5 × 0.9-2.5 cm, densely yellow tomentose, base oblique, apex emarginate. Pedicel 2-4 mm. Calyx campanulate, 3-4 mm. Co­rolla white or pale green; standard 6-7 × 3-4 mm, base atten­uate; wings 5-6 × ca. 1 mm, base auriculate, clawed; keel larger than wings, 7-8 × ca. 2 mm, clawed. Pistil 8-10 mm. Legume 1-2 × 0.3-0.4 cm, densely silver-gray tomentose, lower suture undulate, upper suture straight or shallowly undulate, usually 3- or 4-jointed. Seed elliptic, ca. 2.5 × 1.8-2 mm. Fl. Jul-Aug, fr. Oct-Nov.

Plains, wastelands on hills, grasslands, sparse forests, thickets on mountain slopes; sea level to 1100 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guang­xi, Guizhou, Hainan, Yunnan [Cambodia, Indonesia (as Phyllodium ele­gans var. javanicum Schindler), Laos, Thailand, Vietnam].

The roots and leaves are used medicinally for reducing fever and as an antiphlogistic and diuretic.