• Scientific Name: Desmodium heterocarpon (L.) DC.
• Ref: Prodr. 2:337. 1825
• Synonyms:
  • Desmodium buergeri Miq.
  • D. buergeri var. patulepilosum Ohwi
  • D. heterocarpon var. buergeri (Miq.) Hosok.
  • D. heterocarpon var. patulepilosum (Ohwi) Ohwi
  • D. heterocarpum (L.) DC.
  • D. heterophyllum var. buergeri (Miq.)Hosok.
  • Grona heterocarpa (L.) H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi
  • Hedysarum heterocarpon L.
  • H. polycarpum Poir.
  • H. siliquosum Burm.f.
• Chinese Common Name: 假地豆 jiǎ∙dìdòu, 稗豆 bàidòu
• Japanese Common Name: シバハギ [柴萩/芝萩] shibahagi
• Family: Fabaceae
• Genus: Desmodium
• Distribution: Grasslands, grassy slopes, watersides, thickets, forests; 300-1800 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, Cam­bodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philip­pines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Africa, Australia, Pacific islands].
• Photo: 09/26/2016, Hangzhou, Zhejiang

Shrubs or subshrubs, erect or prostrate, 30-150 cm tall, much branched from base of stem. Leaves 3-foliolate; petiole 1-2 cm, slightly pubescent; terminal leaflet blade elliptic, nar­rowly elliptic, or broadly obovate, 2.5-6 × 1.3-3 cm, abaxially white adpressed pubescent, adaxially glabrous, base obtuse, apex rounded or obtuse, emarginate, mucronate. Racemes ter­minal or axillary, 2.5-7 cm; rachis with white, spreading, hooked hairs or yellowish or white, straight, appressed hairs, densely flowered. Pedicel 3-4 mm. Calyx 1.5-2 mm, 4-lobed; upper lobes slightly 2-toothed at apex. Corolla purple, purple-red, or white, ca. 5 mm; standard obovate-oblong, shortly clawed; wings obovate, auriculate, clawed; keel extremely curved, apex obtuse. Infructescence crowded. Legume erect, narrowly oblong, 1.2-2 cm × 2.5-3 mm, upper suture shallowly undulate, both sutures hooked hairy, 4-7-jointed; articles quad­rate. Fl. Jul-Oct, fr. Oct-Dec. 2n = 22*. (Flora of China)

09/26/2016, Hangzhou, Zhejiang