Densely tangled shrub, to 1 m tall. Stems to c. 30 cm long, glabrous or almost so. Leaves deeply 3-lobed, ±flat, with a few appressed hairs when young, soon glabrescent; petiole 13-30 cm long; lamina 8-20 cm long and wide; lobes linear, 3-7 mm wide, obtuse or rarely acute; reticulation open, shallow. Spikes exceeding leaves, 10-30 cm long; flowers widely spaced; peduncle to 60 cm long; rachis sparsely puberulous near base, glabrous above; bracts 2 mm long, broad, obtuse, glabrous except a few hairs near base. Perianth ascending, opening widely, glabrous; adaxial tepal 5.5-6 mm long, 2.2 mm wide, curved; abaxial tepal 4 mm long. Stigma lunate with prominent horns, 1.4 mm long, 1.5 mm wide; ovary shortly silky in lower half, glabrous above. Fruit ellipsoidal, beaked, on prominent neck, 8-9 mm long, glabrous except a few hairs near base.The large, tangled habit, long spikes with widely spaced flowers and long fruit are distinctive. Glands on apex of fruit fall early. Flowers a duller yellow than most species. Similar to S. petiolaris subsp. triloba .
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