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General:
Perennial herb from a long, woody taproot and short-branching stem-base; stems decumbent to ascending, 20-50 cm long/tall, several, branched, leafless at the base, sparsely to densely appressed-hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound, 5-13 cm long, short-stalked; leaflets (7) 15 to 21, linear to oblong, 15-25 mm long, short-appressed-hairy beneath, nearly glabrous above; stipules triangular, rusty, 2-4 mm long, above-ground ones not joined, subterranean ones mostly with bases running down the stem, but sometimes joined.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an axillary raceme of 7 to 25 spreading-ascending, pea-like flowers, the racemes 3-7 cm long, their stalks to 9 cm long, from shorter than to as long as the leaves; corollas white to greenish-white with purplish tips, 10-14 mm long, the banner slightly longer than the wings, which are about 1 mm longer than the rounded keel; calyces 5-7 mm long, grey to black appressed-hairy, the triangular teeth 1/2 as long as the tube.
Fruits:
Pods, ellipsoid, 2-3 cm long, drooping on slender stalks 1.5-2 cm long, grey-appressed-hairy to almost glabrous, fleshy and filled with stringy fibres, leathery when dry, curving to a semi-circle and often purplish-mottled at maturity, 1-chambered.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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