Flowering from June to July; fruiting from September to October.
Caragana bicolor is close relative of Caragana franchetiana, but differs from the latter in its leaflet blade apices obtuse to acute (vs. obtuse), flowers solitary or in pairs on a peduncle (vs. solitary, rarely in pairs on a peduncle), calyx tube dark brown (vs. yellowish brown), corolla standard emarginate at apex (vs. either slightly emarginae or not at apex), wings with 1 auricle (vs. 2 auticles).
Caragana bicolor is occurring in W Sichuan, E Xizang, NW Yunnan of China.
Shrubs to 3 m tall. Old branches grayish brown to dark gray; current-year branchlets brown. Leaves pinnate, 8-16-foliolate; petiole and rachis 1.5-5 cm long, persistent on long branchlets, caducous on short branchlets; leaflet blades obovate-oblong to elliptic, 3-7 mm long, 2-4 mm wide, appressed pubescent when young but later only abaxially pilose, apex obtuse to acute. Flowers solitary or in pairs on a peduncle. Pedicel 1-2 cm long, articulate near middle. Calyx tube dark brown, campanulate. 0.8-1.2 cm long. Corolla yellow but standard violet-purple when dry, 2-2.5 cm long; standard obovate, claw ca. half as long as limb, apex emarginate; wings with claw shorter than limb, auricle 1, slender, and slightly shorter than claw; keel with a claw nearly as long as limb, auricle dentiform and small. Ovary densely pubescent. Legume cylindric, 3-4 cm long, outside pilose, inside densely pubescent, apex acuminate.
The chromosomal number of Caragana bicolor is 2n = 16 (Mu and Shue, 1985; Li, 1988).
Growing in slopes, scrub in mixed forests; 2400-3600 m.
Caragana bicolor is a species of flowering plants within the family Fabaceae. It is an endemic species in found in China.[1]
Caragana bicolor is a species of flowering plants within the family Fabaceae. It is an endemic species in found in China.
