Erect perennial herb 0.1-0.5 m tall. Stems many, branching freely from a woody base, or from secondary shoots on previous years growth; young stems ribbed, angular, greenish to yellowish, hoary, matted strigose to tomentose with ± appressed, equally biramous hairs, often densely mixed with coarser hairs spreading at tips or crisped, ± sparsely scattered with 0.1-0.8 mm gland-tipped multicellular hairs, or these lacking; older stems rigid, becoming woody, glabrescent, bark reddish-brown, longitudinally striate. Stipules 2-7 mm long, lanceolate to linear-attenuate, spreading to recurved. Leaves pinnately (3)5-11(13)-foliolate; leaf axis (5)8-35(42) mm long including petiole of (2)5-15(17) mm, usually shortly prolonged 0.5-3 mm beyond lateral leaflets; stipels absent; terminal leaflet 4-13 x (1.5)2.5-7 mm, often similar to or larger than laterals, chartaceous, frequently folded, cuneate-oblanceolate to obovate, 1.5-2.5 times as long as wide, apex rounded to truncate, strongly apiculate, sparsely to densely silky pilose with appressed to spreading, similarly sized, mostly unequally biramous hairs above, more densely and coarsely strigose to subsericeous beneath (mixed with small and large ± equally biramous hajrs); margins and lower surface free from bladder-like glands (except sometimes on midrib). Raceme (0.8)1.5-5(10) cm long, not zigzag, shorter to 3 times subtending leaf length, including peduncle of 4-9(14) mm, densely 10-30-flowered; bracts 1.5-2 mm long, linear-lanceolate to filiform, falling early; pedicels c. 1 mm long. Calyx 2.5-4.5 mm long, including a tube to 0.5-1 mm, densely silky strigose with white ± appressed to spreading hairs, usually lacking gland-tipped hairs; lobes linear-attenuate to filiform, 3-6 times tube length. Corolla 5-7 mm long, pink to orange or carmine-red; back of standard and distal keel margin white-pubescent, keel apex obtuse. Stamens 4-6 mm long, mostly less than twice calyx length. Style 1.5-2.5 mm long, horizontal to vertical length ratio 1:1.5-2. Ovary densely white-tomentose, curving upwards distally on expansion, usually without gland-tipped hairs. Pod 6-22 x 1-1.6 mm, straight, cylindrical, ± sharply reflexed, reddish to brown with broad pale sutures, greyish subtomentose to pubescent, gland-tipped hairs mostly lacking, sparse if present; style-base persistent forming a short beak; endocarp spotted with tannin deposits. Seeds (4)6-14, 1-1.6 x 1-1.2 mm, quadrangular-cylindrical, dark orange or brown, mottled purple, slightly pitted.
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