Tie ma bian
Lespedeza pilosa

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

A herb which keeps growing from year to year. The stems lie along the ground and are slender. They are 60-100 cm long. The leaves have 3 leaflets. These are broadly oval and the end leaflet is 2 cm long by 1-1.5 cm wide. The flowers are in the axils of the leaves. They are yellowish white. The pod is oval and 3-4 mm across.

The plant is used in medicine. There are about 100 Lespedeza species.

Where it is found

It is a temperate plant. It grows in waste land and grasslands below 1000 m altitude in central China. In Sichuan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, China, Japan, Korea, Tibet

How it is used for food

Edible parts

Leaves

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Hedysarum pilosum Thunberg; Desmodium pilosum (Thunberg) A. de Candolle;