Erect or spreading, rarely prostrate or trailing, perennial herb or subshrub, 0.3–0.6 (–1.2) m high; young stems ridged, bearing dense, appressed, equally or unequally biramous hairs. Leaves digitately trifoliolate, very rarely 5-foliolate; stipules linear, 0.6–0.9 mm long, pubescent; petiole 5–14 mm long; rachis furrowed; stipellae inconspicuous; multicellular hairs between leaflet pairs sparse, orange to red or brown, pointed-linear; leaflets obovate, narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate, mostly 12–30 mm long, 2.5–8.5 mm wide, upper surface green, with hairs sparse, appressed or shortly spreading, lower surface green, with sparse, appressed hairs and conspicuous, yellow to orange discoid glands, apex obtuse or acute and shortly mucronate. Inflorescences 3.5–8 (–13.5) mm long, shorter than leaves; peduncle to 0.5 mm long; bracts ovate, 0.3–0.6 mm long; pedicel 0.4–0.9 mm long; flowers red. Calyx 1.5–2.6 mm long; lobes subequal, longer than the tube and covered with moderately dense, white to pale brown, appressed hairs. Standard ovate to obovate, 3.3–5 mm long, 2.4–3.4 mm wide. Wings ± glabrous, 3.3–5 mm long, 1.1–1.8 mm wide. Keel 3.7–5 mm long, 1.4–1.7 mm deep; apex acute or rounded; lateral pockets 0.7–1.3 mm long; hairs moderately dense, hyaline or brown, interspersed with numerous discoid glands. Staminal tube 2.2–3.3 mm long, colourless. Ovary moderately hairy; discoid glands present on the ventral surface; style long, to c. 2.5 mm. Pods descending, terete, with four narrow wings (one on either side of each suture), 7–15 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, glabrescent or strigose with sparse, appressed hairs; discoid glands present; apex shortly beaked; endocarp not spotted; seeds 3–7 per fruit.
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Shrublets or perennial herbs, erect or ascending, 15-60 cm tall. Stems with appressed white medifixed symmetrically 2-branched trichomes. Stipules narrowly triangular, 3-5 × ca. 0.2 mm. Leaves 3-foliolate; petiole 6-10 mm, with dense appressed medifixed trichomes; stipels linear, ca. 0.5 mm, glabrous; petiolules 1-2 mm, with very dense appressed medifixed trichomes; leaflet blades opposite, narrowly obovate to obovate-elliptic, 0.6-3 × 0.3-0.5(-1.2) cm, both surfaces with sparse appressed medifixed trichomes, abaxially with dark red disk-shaped glands, secondary veins not visible, base narrowly cuneate, apex rounded to emarginate and with a ca. 0.2 mm mucro. Racemes 5-10 mm, densely flowered; peduncle to 2.5 mm; bracts narrowly triangular, ca. 1 × 0.2 mm, with dense appressed medifixed trichomes. Pedicel 0.5-1 mm. Calyx 2.5-3 mm, with dense appressed medifixed trichomes; tube 0.5-1 mm; teeth narrowly triangular, 1.2-1.5 mm. Corolla red; standard orbicular, ca. (2-)5 × 2-3 mm, outside hairy; wings ca. (2-)4 × 0.5 mm, glabrous; keel ca. (2-)5 × 1 mm, outside hairy. Stamens (2-)5-6 mm; anthers globose, glabrous. Ovary glabrous, with 3-6 ovules. Legume straight, laterally flattened, 10-15 × ca. 2.5 mm, with dense appressed medifixed trichomes and often with disk-shaped glands, sutures thickened; endocarp not blotched. Seeds ca. 2 × 2 mm. Fl. Jun-Sep, fr. Sep-Oct.
Recorded in open communities (woodland, open forest or grassland), on a range of substrates, usually in higher rainfall areas.
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Trailsides, grasslands, near rivers, cultivated fields; at elevations up to 1,900 metres.
Can be grown by seedlings. Seeds needs soaking.
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