Dolichos gululu De Wild.

Perennial herb 8–30 cm. tall from a very large woody rootstock up to 30 cm. long and 20 cm. wide.. Flowering stems nearly always appearing before the leaves, erect or rarely procumbent, simple or sparsely branched at the base, glabrescent to densely spreading hairy.. Leaves unifoliolate; leaflet elliptic, attaining very large dimensions, 12–60 cm. long, 8–35 cm. wide, ± acute at the apex, gradually attenuate at the base or in some forms more or less rounded (see note), glabrous to densely hairy, prominently 3-nerved from the base; petiole 2–5 mm. long; stipules ovate to narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 1·2–1·8 cm. long, 5–7 mm. wide, leafy, glabrous or pubescent.. Flowers in fascicles or peduncle very short; pedicels slender, 0·9–3 cm. long; bracts stipule-like, ovate to oblong-triangular, 1–2·2 cm. long, 2·5–7·5 mm. wide; bracteoles filiform, 0·3–1·2 mm. long.. Calyx glabrous or pubescent; tube 3–5 mm. long; lower lobes triangular-lanceolate, 2–5 mm. long, the upper pair joined to form a broad triangular bidentate lip.. Standard cream with pink or mauve shading or purple inside, yellowish-white outside, rounded-obovate or elliptic, 1·3–2·4 cm. long, 1–2 cm. wide; wings white, pink or mauve; keel cream, sometimes tipped mauve.. Pods held erect, linear-oblong, (3–)5–7 cm. long, (0·7–) 1–1·4 cm. wide, usually glabrous when mature save for some hairs on the sutures and venation.. Seeds black, globose or sometimes compressed, longest dimension 5–6 mm., shorter dimension 5 mm., 2–5 mm. thick; aril scarcely developed.