埃及车轴草 ai ji che zhou cao

Annual herbs, sparsely pubescent to glabrescent. Stems erect or ascending, 20-60 cm, striate, branched at base. Leaves palmately 3-foliolate, alternate on lower part of stem, opposite on upper part; petioles equal to leaflets in lower leaves, shorter in upper leaves; stipules lanceolate, adnate to petiole for 1/2 their length, veins 4 or 5, pale green, margins sparsely ciliate, apex subulate; leaflets obovate or broadly elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 15-30(-50) × 6-15 mm, lateral veins 6-10, base broadly cuneate to obtuse, margins of apical 1/2 serrate, apex obtuse, rarely retuse. Flowers numerous, in ovoid or conic, ter­minal or axillary heads, 12-25 × 10-15 mm; peduncles 1-2 × heads; involucre of short bracts, united at base. Calyx 3.5-4 mm, veins 10; teeth unequal, plumose, lower tooth equal to tube, others shorter. Corolla creamy white, 8-13 mm. Legume 22-25 mm. Seed 1, yellow, ovoid. Fl. Apr-May, fr. May-Jun.

Cultivated. Guangdong, Jiangsu, Taiwan [native range unknown; cultivated in N Africa and SW Asia].