Caragana arborescens Lam.

Trees or large shrubs, 2-6 m tall. Branches dark gray; branchlets green to yellowish brown. Stipules spinelike, 5-10 mm. Leaves pinnate, 8-16-foliolate; petiole and rachis 3-7 cm, caducous; leaflet blades oblong-obovate to elliptic, 1-2(-2.5) × 0.5-1(-1.3) cm, pubescent when young or only abaxially pu­bescent, base mostly rounded or rounded-cuneate, apex obtuse. Flowers solitary or to 5 in a fascicle. Pedicel 2-5 cm, articulate apically. Calyx tube often broadly campanulate, 6-8 mm. Co­rolla yellow, 1.6-2 cm; standard rhombic to broadly ovate, apex rounded-obtuse; wings with claw ca. 3/4 as long as limb, auri­cle spurlike and no longer than 1/3 length of claw; keel with claw slightly shorter than limb, auricle obtuse to deltoid. Ovary glabrous or appressed pubescent. Legume 3.5-6 cm, glabrous. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 16.

It is a cool temperate plant. They do best in climates with cold winters and hot, dry summers. It is frost hardy. It can tolerate poor conditions. It can stand poor soil, salt and wind. In north China it grows between 1,000-1,900 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 2-9.

The seeds are eaten cooked. They often need spices to add flavour. The young green pods are cooked and eaten.

It can be cut back and allowed to regrow.