《中国植物志》|| 豆科 LEGUMINOSAE ||大胡枝子组 Sect. Macrolespedeza Maxim. ||胡枝子 Lespedeza bicolor Turcz.

12. 胡枝子（救荒本草）图版34: 1-8
Lespedeza bicolor Turcz. in Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 13:69. 1840; Schindl. in Sargent, Pl. Wils. 2: 112. 1916; Nakai in Bull. For. Exp. Stat. Chosen 6: 58. 1927: 陈嵘, 中国树木分类学550. 1937; Schischk. et Bob. in Kom. Fl. URSS 13: 379. 1948; 东北木本植物图志342. 图版116. 图225. 1955; 中国主要植物图说•豆科519. 图510. 1955;台湾植物志3:317. 1977;Ohwi, Fl. Jap. 790. 1978.
直立灌木，高1-3米，多分枝，小枝黄色或暗褐色，有条棱，被疏短毛；芽卵形，长2-3毫米，具数枚黄褐色鳞片。羽状复叶具3小叶；托叶2枚，线状披针形，长3-4.5毫米；叶柄长2-7（-9）厘米；小叶质薄，卵形、倒卵形或卵状长圆形，长1.5-6厘米，宽1-3.5厘米，先端钝圆或微凹，稀稍尖，具短刺尖，基部近圆形或宽楔形，全缘，上面绿色，无毛，下面色淡，被疏柔毛，老时渐无毛。总状花序腋生，比叶长，常构成大型、较疏松的圆锥花序；总花梗长4-10厘米；小苞片2，卵形，长不到1厘米，先端钝圆或稍尖，黄褐色，被短柔毛；花梗短，长约2毫米，密被毛；花萼长约5毫米，5浅裂，裂片通常短于萼筒，上方2裂片合生成2齿，裂片卵形或三角状卵形，先端尖，外面被白毛；花冠红紫色，极稀白色（var. alba Bean），长约10毫米，旗瓣倒卵形，先端微凹，翼瓣较短，近长圆形，基部具耳和瓣柄，龙骨瓣与旗瓣近等长，先端钝，基部具较长的瓣柄；子房被毛。荚果斜倒卵形，稍扁，长约10毫米，宽约5毫米，表面具网纹，密被短柔毛。花期7-9月，果期9-10月。
产于黑龙江、吉林、辽宁、河北、内蒙古、山西、陕西、甘肃、山东、江苏、安徽、浙江、福建、台湾、河南、湖南、广东、广西等省区。生于海拔150-1000米的山坡、林缘、路旁、灌丛及杂木林间。分布于朝鲜、日本、原苏联（西伯利亚地区）。模式标本采自中国。
种子油可供食用或作机器润滑油；叶可代茶；枝可编筐。性耐旱，是防风、固沙及水土保持植物，为营造防护林及混交林的伴生树种。

《Flora of China》|| Fabaceae || Lespedeza ||胡枝子 Lespedeza bicolor

8. Lespedeza bicolor Turczaninow, Bull. Soc. Imp. Natural­istes Moscou. 13: 69. 1840.

胡枝子 hu zhi zi

Lespedeza bicolor var. japonica Nakai; L. bicolor f. pen­dula S. L. Tung & Z. Lu; L. ionocalyx Nakai; L. veitchii Ricker.

Shrubs, erect, 1-3 m tall, much branched. Branchlets sparsely pubescent. Leaves 3-foliolate; petiole 2-7(-9) cm; leaflets abaxially pale green, adaxially green, ovate, obovate, or ovate-oblong, terminal one 1.5-6 × 1-3.5 cm, abaxially pilose, adaxially glabrous, base subrounded or broadly cuneate, apex obtuse-rounded or emarginate, mucronate. Racemes axillary, longer than leaves, often branched in large lax panicles; pedun­cle 4-10 cm. Pedicel ca. 2 mm, densely hairy. Calyx ca. 5 mm, 5-lobed; lobes shorter than tube. Corolla reddish purple, ca. 1 cm; standard obovate, apex emarginate; wings suboblong, short, base auriculate, clawed; keel subequal to standard, base long clawed, apex obtuse. Ovary hairy. Legume obliquely obovoid, slightly flat, ca. 10 × 5 mm, densely pubescent, reticulate veined. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct. 2n = 22*.

Mountain slopes, forest margins, roadsides, thickets, forests; 100-1000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hebei, Heilong­jiang, Henan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea, ?Mongolia, Russia].

The seed oil is used as a lubricant, the leaves as a tea substitute, and the branchlets for making baskets. Because this species tolerates arid soils, it is grown as a windbreak and for sand stabilization and soil conservation.