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Trees, shrubs, or woody climbers. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate; stipules often small and early caducous; leaflets alternate, rarely opposite, estipellate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, racemes or panicles, usually numerous flowered; bracts and bracteoles usually small, caducous, rarely persistent. Flowers small. Calyx campanulate, 5-toothed; teeth unequal, rarely subequal, lowest tooth usually largest, upper pair usually wider than others and partially connate. Corolla white, pale green, or rarely purple; petals clawed; standard ovate, oblong, or orbicular; wings with base cuneate, truncate, or sagittate; keel often boat-shaped, ± united above. Stamens 9 or 10, monadelphous, usually united in an open sheath, or diadelphous and then in 2 bundles of 5 each (5+5), or 9 united and 1 free (9+1); anthers erect, small, dehiscent by short apical slits. Ovary stipitate, few ovuled; style usually incurved, long or short; stigma terminal, small. Fruit an indehiscent legume, of 4 types: (a) strongly flattened, translucent, raised over seeds ("samaroid"); (b) thicker, ± leathery, often with lenticels; (c) thick, ± woody; (b+c) when more than 1 seed develops, legume lomentaceous. Seeds reniform, compressed, those of legume types b, c, and b+c usually not visible from outside; radicle inflexed.
Trees or shrubs. Leaves imparipinnate, the leaflets usually alternate, 3 to several, rarely 1; stipules ovate to subulate, small. Inflorescences paniculate (oc-casionally racemose), terminal or axillary. Flowers small, on short pedicels; bracts and bracteoles soon deciduous; hypanthium subgibbous, campanulate, the teeth 5; petals subequal, clawed, the carinal petals coherent along the lower margin; stamens 10, monadelphous or disposed in 2 fascicles of 5, the anthers minute, basi-fixed, dehiscing by 2 horizontal slits; ovary obviously stipitate, the style subulate, the stigma capitate or indeterminate. Fruits stipitate, oblong to rotund, occasionally constricted medially, wingless or with the wing surrounding the seminiferous area, lightly reticulate, the margin not thickened, the seeds solitary or rarely 2, flat.
Stamens connate into a dorsally split sheath, usually the upper one free or absent or stamens in 2 bundles of 5; anthers small, erect, didymous, the thecae dehiscing by an apical slit.
Flowers white or violet-purple, fragrant, in terminal or axillary and terminal panicles, rarely in cymose racemes; bracts and bracteoles caducous or subpersistent.
Leaves imparipinnate, rarely unifoliolate (not in Flora area); leaflets alternate to subopposite; stipules caducous or sometimes subpersistent.
Petals clawed; standard circular to obovate; wings oblong-obovate; keel petals usually dorsally connate at the apex, sometimes free.
Ovary stipitate, few-ovulate; style incurved; stigma small, terminal.
Pod indehiscent, flat, oblong or linear, ± thickened over the seeds.
Calyx 5-dentate, with upper teeth broader than the lower ones.
Seed reniform, compressed; radicle inflexed.
Trees, shrubs or lianes, occasionally spiny.
