Upright woody perennial herb, subshrub, or shrub, up to 3 m. tall; stem simple or somewhat branched, reddish, lineate, densely uncinulate-pubescent. Leaves 1-foliolate (rarely 3-foliolate), occasionally opposite; stipules stramineous, rather long persistent, ovate-long-attenuate, lobed at base, soon narrowed to a slender caudate tip, 2.2–8.5 mm. long, 1–4 mm. wide at base, pilose on the outer surface, becoming ± glabrous, ciliate; petiole sulcate, usually linear, densely strigose to glabrescent, 0.3–2.2 cm. long; leaflet light green to blue-green or darker above, paler beneath and with prominent pallid veins, suborbicular to elliptic to rhombic-ovate, 3–9.4 cm. long, 2–7 cm. wide, entire or repand (indented at the termination of the lateral veins) and ciliate, thick, mostly soft velvety on both surfaces with long stiff golden, reddish or white hairs slightly hooked at apex and intermixed with straight tapering ones. Inflorescences axillary and terminal densely flowered racemes to 1 dm. or more long, at least the terminal ones often paniculately branched; rhachis striate, densely long uncinulate-pubescent with straight hairs intermixed; primary bracts each subtending 3–5 pedicels, stramineous, lanceolate- to ovate-attenuate, 1.5–4 mm. long, 0.5–1 mm. wide, somewhat pilose and uncinulate-puberulent on the outer surface, ± persistent; secondary bracts similar, slightly smaller and almost linear; pedicels abundantly uncinulate-pubescent with straight hairs intermixed, 1–3 mm. long; occasionally small bracteoles present on the pedicels. Flowers white to pink, to blue, mauve or brilliant purple, usually appearing whitish or pale when dry. Calyx rather densely strigose, central tooth of lower lobe attenuate, 3 mm. long, the lateral teeth slightly shorter; upper bifid lobe almost rounded to acute, notched at centre, 2 mm. long. Corolla ± twice the length of calyx; standard suborbicular, retuse at apex, gradually narrowed to the cuneate base, 4.2–6 mm. long, 3.5–6 mm. wide; wings ± oblong, obtuse, shortly clawed, 4–5.5 mm. long, 1–2.4 mm. wide; keel-petals remotely scythe-shaped, slenderly clawed, equalling or exceeding calyx in length, 1–2 mm. wide. Fruit sessile to shortly stipitate (stipe to 1.5 mm. long), with style usually persistent, 2–6(–7)-articled, upper suture essentially straight to slightly curved and somewhat indented at the isthmi, lower suture ± rounded, indented at isthmi (between the articles), surfaces and sutures uncinulate-pubescent throughout with straight tapering hairs intermixed; articles subrectangular, 2.5–4 mm. long and wide. Seed orbicular to reniform, reddish to almost black, 1.5–2.5 mm. long, 1.5–2 mm. wide. Fig. 65/7, p. 453.
