Bushy perennial herb up to 1 m. tall.. Stem densely covered with fine short slightly spreading hairs, ultimately glabrescent.. Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets broadly elliptic or obovate, up to 40–60 mm. long, 18–45 mm. wide, usually densely pubescent on both surfaces of the young leaflets, generally glabrescent; petiole up to 45–90 mm. long.. Stipules very small, filiform, 0·5–2 mm. long, caducous.. Racemes up to 15–28 cm. long, usually with many fairly closely arranged flowers; bracts linear, ± 4–8 mm. long; bracteoles inserted on the upper part of the pedicel, filiform, up to 1·5–4 mm. long.. Calyx 8–10 mm. long, densely pubescent with short slightly spreading hairs; lobes narrow, 2–3 times as long as the tube, reflexed.. Standard suborbicular, bright yellow, turning reddish with age, pubescent outside; wings obovate-oblong, ± twice as long as the keel; keel strongly rounded about the middle, with a very short incurved untwisted beak, 6–8 mm. long.. Pod oblong-clavate, gradually narrowed into a short stipe, up to 35–45 mm. long, 9–11 mm. across, rather closely puberulous, ± 16–20-seeded.. Seeds oblique-cordiform, laterally compressed, 4–4·5 mm. long, rugose, brown.. Fig. 124, p. 898.
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