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The "Neko-hagi" (Lespedeza pilosa) belongs to Fabaceae (the Pea family). It is a perennial herb that is distributed to Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu in Japan, as well as the Korean Peninsula and China. This herb grows in sunny grasslands of fields and mountains. The stem is branched at the base and creeping on the ground. The leaves are trilobate with broad-elliptic to broad-ovate leaflets. The 3-5, white, papilionaceous flowers come on the axils from July to September. The vexillums (flag petals) have magenta mottles. In Chinese, it is called "鉄馬鞭" (tie ma bian).
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