Erect or ascending perennial herb 0·3–0·9 m. tall; rootstock woody, up to 12 cm. long and 6 cm. wide, containing a dark red resinous substance.. Stems ? single, unbranched or branched, ribbed, often stout, glabrous or sparsely pubescent.. Leaves developing after flowering has commenced; leaflets 3, oblong-lanceolate, 5–20 cm. long, 0·4–4 cm. wide, rounded but mucronulate or acute at the apex, cuneate at the base, pubescent or glabrescent, very conspicuously 3-nerved from base to apex; petiole 0·2–1·5 cm. long; rhachis 0·5–2·5(–4·3) cm. long; petiolules 1–3 mm. long; stipules sometimes persistent, oblong-lanceolate to ovate, 0·6–2 cm. long, 2–7 mm. wide, glabrous or pubescent, lined with dark pigment.. Flowers 4–8(–15) in axillary fascicles; peduncle obsolete; pedicels 0·8–4 cm. long, pubescent; bracteoles minute, linear.. Calyx pubescent, spotted with dark pigment; tube ± 3–4·5 mm. long; lobes triangular, 1·6–3 mm. long, the upper pair joined for ± three-quarters of their length to form a bifid lip.. Standard mauve, often greenish outside, obovate or almost round, 1·1–2·2(–2·8) cm. long, 1–1·4(–1·8) cm. wide.. Pods oblanceolate, 5·5 cm. long, 8 mm. wide, transversely ribbed, glabrous on the faces but margins ciliate.. Seeds not seen.
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