Locust Bean is a whole plant of the leguminous plant Locust Bean, also known as Xifengdai, Shanjiaodou, Shandougen, and Dahongpao. Locust Bean is mainly distributed in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions of China and can be used as Chinese medicine after harvesting in the summer and autumn seasons. Now let's learn about the morphological characteristics of Locust Bean.
Locust Bean is a small shrub, 0.5-2m tall, with sparsely hairy branches. The leaf stalk has light yellow soft hairs; the stipules are ovate-lanceolate; trifoliate, with the terminal leaflet broadly elliptic, 4.5-8.5cm long, 2.5-5cm wide; blunt at the tip, with a hard point, wedge-shaped at the base, hairless on the upper surface, and with long yellow soft hairs on the veins on the lower surface, the lateral leaflets are small and slightly oblique.
The inflorescence is axillary or terminal, forming a corymb inflorescence up to 16cm long, with numerous flowers densely packed; the bracts are ovate-lanceolate and fall off; the calyx is bell-shaped, with lanceolate calyx lobes and long hairs; the corolla is pink, with the standard petal about 1cm long, clawless, the wing petals are as long as the standard petal, and the keel petals are shorter; the ovary is linear, with silky hairs on the ventral and dorsal sutures.
The fruit is 1.5-2.5cm long, densely covered with black-brown silky hairs, with 4-7 pod segments, the ventral sutures are constricted, and the dorsal sutures are slightly wavy. The flowering period is from July to September, and the fruiting period is from September to November.
The stem of Locust Bean is cylindrical with a diameter of about 3mm, and the surface has longitudinal edges. Trifoliate leaves can be seen, with the larger terminal leaflet measuring 5.5-9cm long and 3.5-5cm wide, elliptic to inverted ovate in shape, blunt or acute at the tip, with a hard point, wedge-shaped at the base, entire margin, with soft hairs on the lower surface, and crisp texture.
Sometimes inflorescences or fruits can be seen, with the fruit being 1.5-2.4cm long, the ventral suture constricted, and the dorsal suture deeply undulating, with 4-7 segments, and the surface densely covered with brown silky hairs. It has a slight odor, resembling that of beans.
