E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb from a slender rhizome; stems flanged or winged, climbing, 30-100 cm tall.

Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound with 4 to 8 paired or scattered leaflets; leaflets linear to oblong-lanceolate or lance-elliptic, glabrous or hairy, 2-7 cm long, 0.3-2 cm wide; tendrils well developed, usually branched and grasping; stipules lanceolate, at most 1/2 the length of the leaflets, usually 2-lobed.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a loose, stalked, axillary cluster of 2 to 8 pea-like flowers; corollas pink to bluish-purple (rarely white), 12-22 mm long, the banner-claw shorter than the blade, the wings and keel nearly equal to the banner; calyces 8-12 mm long, glabrous to hairy, the upper teeth triangular and shorter than the lanceolate lower teeth.

Fruits:
Pods, 3-6 cm long, 4-6 mm wide, short-hairy or becoming glabrous; seeds 5 to 8.