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More or less erect annual or short-lived perennial herb up to 130 cm. tall; stems densely pubescent, the hairs appressed or, less often, spreading, white or yellowish.. Leaf-rhachis, including a petiole of 2–7 mm., up to 5 cm. long, prolonged 1–2 mm. beyond the lateral leaflets; stipules triangular-acuminate, 2–4 mm. long; leaflets 5–15, linear or, less often, oblanceolate, 2.5–4(rarely –7) cm. long, 1.5–4(rarely –6) mm. wide, glabrous or rarely pubescent above, densely silky beneath; lateral nerves usually obscure; margin thickened.. Flowers pink or orange in terminal and axillary stiff open pedunculate pseudoracemes with ± 6–10 nodes; bracts ± 1 mm. long, the lowest sometimes replaced by a 1–3-foliolate leaf; bracteoles present at base of calyx; pedicels 2–4 mm. long.. Calyx brown silky; tube 1–1.5 mm. long; lobes triangular-acuminate, 1–5 mm. long, the upper pair free to the base, a little shorter than the others.. Standard golden brown or white silky outside, 5–12 mm. long; keel glabrous.. Upper filament free or lightly attached, widened but neither callous nor bent above the base; filament-sheath 4–5 mm., free parts 1–2 mm., anthers 0.3–0.6 mm. long.. Style glabrous, curved, penicillate, 1.6–3 mm. long.. Pods horizontal or ascending, upcurved near the tip but the style-base deflexed, ± 5 cm. long by 3 mm. wide, brownish pubescent.. Seeds 9–12, longitudinal, olive green or mottled, oblong-ellipsoid, ± 2.5 × 1.5 × 0.7 mm.; hilum at one corner, with a large dull yellow wedge-shaped aril cupping the seed.
Leaves pinnate with (1)3–6(8) pairs of leaflets; petiole 0.1–0.4(0.6) cm long, petiole and rachis together (1)1.5–5(6.5) cm long, pubescent like the stem; leaflets (10)15–40(50) × (0.8)1–4 mm, linear-oblong to linear, ± cuneate at the base, narrowly rounded at the apex; upper surface glabrous or rarely shortly pubescent, lower surface appressed-pubescent with silvery, usually ± silky hairs contrasting rather markedly with the upper surface; stipules (2)3–6(7) × 0.1–0.7(0.8) mm.
A herb. It grows each year from seeds. It grows 1 m high. The leaves have 3-6 pairs of leaflets. The leaflets are 15-40 mm long by 1-4 mm wide. The flowers are in the axils of leaves or at the ends of branches. They are in groups 12 cm long. The petals are yellow or red. The fruit are pods 40-55 mm long by 3-4 mm wide. They are brown and have hairs. There are 9-13 seeds. These are 2-3 mm long by 2 mm wide.
Calyx 2–7 mm long (see varieties), appressed to ascending or rarely spreading-pubescent; lateral teeth equalling to 3(4) times longer than the tube, the two upper teeth joined for up to half their length or free to the base.
Seeds 9–13(15), brown to black, 2.5–3 × 1.5–2 × 0.8–1 mm, oblongoid-ovoid, with a conspicuous U-shaped aril obliquely placed towards one end of the seed and markedly thickened and elongated at the bottom of the U.
Flowers in terminal and axillary, slender, lax racemes up to 12(20) cm long, and often also in the axils of the uppermost leaves; bracts 2–3 × 0.2 mm, linear; pedicels 2–4(5) mm long.
Annual with a slender taproot, or perennial with a vertical stock, with erect, branching stems (15)40–100(160) cm high.
Upper filament free or lightly attached, at least near the base, to the stamen tube.
Pods 40–55(60) × 3–4(4.5) mm, brown, with fairly dense ± loosely appressed hairs.
Petals 6–11 mm long (see varieties), orange, yellow, red or pinkish.
Stems with appressed to spreading or occasionally deflexed hairs.
Ovary pubescent; style glabrous, with pencillate tip.
An erect annual, 1–3 ft. or more high
Slender grey-pubescent branches
Pink or orange flowers
Very narrow leaflets
