Vasilis Teodoridis:
Fabaceae | Desmodium
31. Desmodium yunnanense Franchet; Pl. Delavay. 172. 1890.
????? yun nan shan ma huang
Desmodium praestans Forrest; D. rockii Schindler; D. yunnanense subsp. praestans (Forrest) H. Ohashi; D. yunnanense var. rockii (Schindler) Y. C. Yang & P. H. Huang.
Shrubs; 1.2-3 m tall; much branched. Young branches densely white or gray tomentose; becoming glabrous. Leaves 3- or 1-foliolate; petiole 1-4 cm; hairy as young branches; terminal leaflet blade nearly orbicular; ovate; or obovate; 5-22 x 5-17 cm; abaxially densely gray or white tomentose; adaxially sparsely pubescent; margin entire or undulate. Panicles terminal; large; 16-27 cm; rachis shortly tomentose; 2-6-flowered at each node. Pedicel 0.6-1 cm; tomentose. Calyx 3-4.5 mm; 4-lobed; lobes ca. as long as tube or shorter. Corolla pink or purple; 1-1.3 cm; standard nearly orbicular or broadly elliptic; base shortly clawed; apex concave or emarginate; wings auriculate and clawed; keel shorter; clawed. Ovary pubescent. Legume compressed; 4-6 x ca. 0.5 cm; hairy when young; becoming glabrous; lower suture undulate; upper suture nearly straight; 4-7-jointed; articles 7-9 mm; reticulate veined. Fl. Aug-Sep; fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 22*.
? Gravelly places; wastelands; grassy slopes; thickets; margins of Pinus-Quercus forests; 1000-2200 m. SW Sichuan; NW Yunnan.