Description
Horse buckthorn (scientific name: Indigofera pseudotinctoria Matsum.) is a small shrub of the leguminous family. Branches are slender, pinnately compound leaves; petioles are flat with T-shaped hairs, and leaf shafts are flat; stipules are small, narrowly triangular, opposite leaves, elliptical, obovate or obovate-elliptic, raceme, after blooming Longer than compound leaves, with dense flowers; total pedicel shorter than petiole; calyx bell-shaped, calyx teeth unequal length, corolla light red or purplish red, flag petals are broadly ovoid, ear-shaped appendages at the base of wing petals, anthers round Spherical, hairy ovary. The pods are linear-cylindrical, with down-curved stalks; seeds are oval. It blooms from May to August and bears fruit from September to October.
Distributed in China's Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan. There are also distributions in Japan. It grows on the edge of forest and bushes on the slopes of 100-1300 meters above sea level.
Horse buckthorn is a high-quality green feed for herbivorous animals such as cattle and sheep and omnivorous animals such as chickens and ducks to supplement protein, vitamins, minerals and trace elements.
