Herb, perennial, prostrate, to 3 dm long; stem terete, sparsely sericeous, pilose. Leaves unifoliolate, the leaflets narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, apex acute, acuminate or mucronulate, the base rounded to cuneate, 18-25 mm long, 5-13 mm broad, the margins entire, above strigose, beneath strigose, the veins on each side of the midvein obscure; petiole 1-2 mm long; stipules absent or winging the stem for up to one cm. Inflorescences leaf-opposed racemes, bearing 1-3 flowers, bracts linear, 3-4 mm long; pedicels 3-4 mm long; bracteoles linear, 3-4 mm long, pilose, located on the base of the calyx. Flowers yellow, 9-10 mm long; calyx 9-10 mm long, the tube campanulate, the lobes 2-3 times as long as the tube, pilose; corolla yellow with maroon veins, 9-10 mm long, the standard 4.5-6.0 mm long, 4-7 mm broad, retuse, the wings 4-5 mm long, the claws 2-2.5 mm long, oblong oblanceolate, oblique, the keel 6-7 mm long, the twisted beak short; stamens dimorphic, the long anthers 0.9-1.5 mm long, the short anthers 0.3-0.5 mm long; style with a pubescent stigma, sharply geniculate, 4.0-5.5 mm long. Legume inflated, 1.7-2.0 cm long, glabrous, black at maturity; seeds ca. 15, brown, oblique cordiform, to 2.5 mm long.
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Perennial from a slender root; stems spreading or decumbent, 1–4 dm; stipules ± reduced or wanting; racemes erect, open, few-fld. Dry, open woods and sandy soil; se. Va. to Fla., La., and tropical Amer. Summer. Our plants are var. vulgaris Windler, with ± spreading pubescence and relatively broad lvs mostly 2–3 times as long as wide. (C. angulata, probably misapplied)
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