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General:
Perennial herb from a taproot and branching stem-base; stems usually ascending to erect but decumbent-based, sometimes prostrate on harsh sites, 20-70 cm tall/long, with short, stiff, appressed, unbranched hairs or nearly glabrous.
Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound, 5-12 cm long; leaflets 7 to 19, narrowly egg-shaped to oblong, rounded or notched at the tip, 1-3 cm long, glabrous above, paler and short-hairy on the lower surface; stipules egg-shaped, 4-7 mm long, the lower ones joined and clasping the stem.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a loose, axillary raceme of 6 to 25 or more pea-like flowers mostly on one side of the axis, the raceme-stalks 9-23 cm long, longer than the leaves; corollas whitish or yellowish to pale purple, fading bluish, 6-11 mm long, the banner much longer than the wings, which are longer than the keel; calyces bell-shaped, 4-7 mm long, short-black-hairy, the lance-linear teeth 1/4-1/2 the length of the tube.
Fruits:
Pods, narrowly ellipsoid, spreading to drooping, short-stalked, membranous, black-hairy, 1.5-2.5 cm long, compressed, 1-chambered but with a thin partial partition.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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