美丽鸡血藤 mei li ji xue teng

Millettia speciosa Champion ex Bentham, Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 4: 73. 1852.

Lianas, 1-3 m. Bark brown. Branchlets brown tomentose, glabrescent. Leaves 13-foliolate; rachis 15-25 cm, including petiole 3-4 cm; leaflet blades oblong-lanceolate to elliptic-lan­ceolate, 4-8 × 2-3 cm, papery, abaxially rusty pubescent, gla­brescent, and reddish brown when dry, adaxially glabrous and shiny but glaucous when dry, base rounded, margins slightly revolute, apex acute and with a short tip. Racemes axillary, usu­ally congested near apex of branchlets to form large panicles, ca. 30 cm, brown tomentose. Pedicel and calyx tomentose. Flowers 2.5-3.5 cm, fragrant. Corolla white, creamy, or pale pink; standard orbicular, glabrous, with 2 basal calluses. Ovary tomentose, with numerous ovules. Legume linear, 10-15 × 1-2 cm, flat, brown tomentose, base tapering to a short stipe, apex beaked; valves woody. Seeds 4-6 per legume, black, ovoid, ca. 10 × 8 mm. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Aug-Oct.

Open places, sparse woodlands; 200-1700 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, S Guizhou, Hainan, S Hunan, Yunnan [Vietnam].

The roots are rich in starch and used to make a tonic wine.