Thermopsis lanceolata

Thermopsis lanceolata, the lanceleaf golden-banner or false lupine, is a rhizomatous perennial herb of the pea family (Fabaceae) native to the steppes, sandy grassland and floodplains of Siberia, Mongolia, Central Asia and northern China. It spreads by creeping rhizomes to form colonies of erect, finely hairy stems 15 to 40 centimetres tall. The leaves are alternate and palmately trifoliate, each with three narrowly oblong to lance-shaped greyish-green leaflets subtended by a pair of conspicuous leafy stipules. Bright yellow pea-like flowers are borne in a terminal raceme, opening in early summer. The fruit is a flattened, straight or slightly curved, hairy legume pod containing several seeds. Like many members of the tribe Thermopsideae the whole plant is rich in quinolizidine alkaloids and is toxic if eaten in quantity; it is unpalatable to grazing stock.