有钩柱花草 you gou zhu hua cao

Hedysarum hamatum Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 2: 1170. 1759; Stylosanthes procumbens Swartz, nom. illeg. superfl.

Herbs or shrublets, 10-50 cm tall, prostrate or ascending. Stems sparsely pubescent. Stipules sheathing, 4-12 mm. Leaves 3-foliolate; petiole short; petiolules ca. 0.5 mm; leaflet blades ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, 8-14 × 3-5 mm, commonly gla-brous, base cuneate, margin setose, apex acute and mucronate. Inflorescences 1-1.5 cm, with 2-10 clustered flowers, each flower subtended by a rudimentary axis; primary bracts 1-1.2 cm, spreading setose; secondary bracts 2-3.5 × ca. 0.5 mm. Bracteoles ca. 2 mm. Hypanthium 2-2.5 mm. Calyx tube oblong, ca. 2 × 1 mm. Corolla yellow, with red slender stria-tions; standard ca. 4 × 3 mm. Legume quadrate, 2-3.5 × ca. 2 mm, commonly pubescent, with 2 articles, beak 3-3.5 mm and uncinate. Seeds light brown, ellipsoid, ca. 2 × 1 mm. 2n = 20.

Reported as cultivated in Hainan [native to Caribbean, Central America, SE North America, and South America].

No material of this species has been seen by the present authors.

The species is cultivated for fodder.