Herbs, 45-60 cm tall. Stems lianescent, sparsely villous. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; stipules ovate-lanceolate or ovate-triangular, 5-13 mm; petiole 2.8-11.5 cm; stipels linear or linear-lanceolate, 3-7 mm; petiolules short, 1-2 mm; leaflets elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 2.5-11 × 1.5-5 cm, thinly papery, abaxially sparsely villous or sometimes glabrous, adaxially glabrous, lateral veins 7-11 pairs, obviously convex abaxially, base rounded, apex obtuse or acute, rarely acuminate, with mucro. Peduncle with 4 or 5 or more bracts at base; bracts ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2-4 mm. Flowers axillary, usually solitary, 2.5-5 cm; bracteoles similar to bracts but larger, 4-8 mm. Calyx large, tubular, membranous, usually glabrous, 5-lobed; lobes lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, ca. 1/4 as long as to equal to tube, apex acuminate. Corolla light blue or purple, 2.5-5 cm; standard broadly elliptic or almost obovate, base acuminate; wings and keels similar and subequal, much shorter than standard, with slender claws. Ovary and style villous. Legume linear-oblong, 2.5-10 × 0.5-0.8 cm, apex beaked, both ventral and dorsal sutures with ribs. Seeds 2 to many, dark brown, almost cylindric or reniform. Fl. May-Sep, fr. Sep-Jan.
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Perennial, glabrous, twining herb to 1 m; stipules lance-ovate, striate, 2–4 mm; stipellules and bracteoles similar but smaller; lfls 3, ovate, ovate-oblong, or oblong-lanceolate, 3–6 cm, obtuse; peduncle shorter than the petiole of the subtending lf, bearing ordinarily 1 or 2 pale blue or pink-lavender fls 4–6 cm, each fl closely subtended by a pair of bracteoles; cal-tube 10–14 mm, exceeding the triangular-ovate teeth; fr 3–6 cm, tipped by the persistent style. Dry upland woods and barrens; L.I. and N.J. to s. O., s. Ind., Mo., and Okla., s. to Fla. and Tex. June, July. (Martiusia m.)
A herb. It grows 45-60 cm tall. The leaves have 3 leaflets along the stalk. They are narrowly oval and 3-11 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. The flowers usually occur singly in the axils of leaves. They are light blue or purple. The pods are narrow and 3-10 cm long by 1 cm wide. There is a beak at the end. There can be 2 to many seeds.
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