球子鸡血藤 qiu zi ji xue teng

Basionym: Millettia sphaerosperma Z. Wei, Acta Phyto­tax. Sin. 23: 285. 1985.

Shrubs, scandent. Bark pale yellow. Stems puberulent when young, glabrescent, sparsely scattered with minute lenti­cels, basally brown and peeled off. Leaves 3-foliolate; rachis 15-25 cm, including petiole 4-6 cm; stipels ca. 2 mm; leaflet blades elliptic-lanceolate, lateral ones 9-12 × 3.5-5 cm, termi­nal one 11-18 × 6-9 cm, papery, abaxially straw-green with prominent veins, adaxially dark green and flat. Panicle terminal 12-15 cm; flowering branchlets spreading, puberulent. Flowers ca. 1.5 cm. Corolla red to purple; standard oblong, without basal calluses, outside densely sericeous. Ovary sericeous, with 6-8 ovules. Legume globose, 5-6.5 × ca. 3 cm, leathery, brown tomentose, apex beaked; suture evident. Seeds 1 or 2 per leg­ume, dark brown, broadly ovoid. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Oct-Nov.

● Shady ravines; ca. 1000 m. Guangxi, Guizhou.