Perennial herb, shrub, or small subshrub (0.1–)0.6–2.5(–3) m. tall, with several shoots from a woody rootstock, very rarely a small tree to 3(–?4.5) m. Stems glaucous and glabrous to adpressed pubescent. Leaflets elliptic, oblong-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 2–9 cm. long, 0.9–3.5(–4.5) cm. wide, acute and mucronate or rounded at the apex, cuneate, rounded or slightly cordate at the base, slightly to fairly densely pubescent beneath, sometimes glaucous; petiole winged, oblong, obovate, oblanceolate, obcordate or almost round, 0.8–6 cm. long, 0.4–3.5 cm. wide, rounded or narrowly to widely emarginate at the apex, obtuse to slightly cordate at the base; stipules linear to lanceolate, 4–10 mm. long, 0.6–1.5 mm. wide. Inflorescences usually elongate and narrow, falsely racemose, the flowers arranged in fascicles along the rhachis, 15–50 cm. long, or flowers all in axillary fascicles; peduncle 0–11 cm. long; pedicels 0.2–2.2 cm. long; bracts ovate to lanceolate, 1.5–4 mm. long, 0.7–1 mm. wide, soon falling. Calyx pubescent or hairy; tube 2.5–4 mm. long; lobes 3–8.5 mm. long, the upper pair joined for most of their length. Standard all white or yellow or yellow outside and mauve inside, the veins and outer flush dark purple or crimson, obovate, (1–)1.5– 2.2 cm. long, (1–)1.2–2 cm. wide, glabrous to finely puberulous outside; wings and keel bluish-purple or keel yellow-green tipped purple; rarely flowers all white. Fruit densely yellowish-brown hairy, stipitate, the stipe rapidly enlarging and attaining 3–7 cm.; articles 1–5, broadly elliptic or almost round, strongly compressed, 5.5–9(–13) mm. long, 5–6(–7) mm. wide. Seeds dark crimson-brown, compressed-reniform, longest dimension 4 mm., shorter dimension 3 mm., 1 mm. thick; hilum minute, almost round, the seed somewhat beaked on one side of it.
