Hedysarum pilosum Thunberg in Murray, Syst. Veg., ed. 14, 675. 1784; Desmodium pilosum (Thunberg) Candolle; Les­pedeza nantcianensis Pampanini.

Herbs, perennial, densely villous throughout. Stems pro­cumbent, 60-100 cm, slender. Leaves 3-foliolate; petiole 0.6-1.5 cm; leaflets broadly obovate or obovate, terminal one 1.5-2 × 1-1.5 cm, base rounded or subrounded, apex rounded, sub­rounded, or emarginate, mucronate. Racemes axillary, shorter than leaves; peduncle short. Calyx 5-parted; lobes lanceolate, upper 2 connate at base. Corolla yellowish white or white; stan­dard elliptic, 7-8 mm, clawed; wings shorter than standard and keel. Cleistogamous flowers often 1-3, crowded in leaf axils on upper stem, sessile or subsessile, fruit-bearing. Legume broadly ovoid, 3-4 mm, convex, both surfaces densely villous, apex acute-rostrate. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 20.

The whole plant is used medicinally for invigorating the stomach and as a sedative.

Waste slopes, grasslands; below 1000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Si­chuan, Xizang, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].