General: Perennial from a branched root-crown; stems several, erect, 30-90 cm tall, simple to freely branched, densely velvety-hairy and with additional, longer, spreading to appressed hairs.
Leaves: Mainly alternate along the stem, palmately compound, with stalks 1-3 times as long as the blades; leaflets 7 to 10, elliptic-oblanceolate, pointed at the tip, 2-6 cm long, velvety on both surfaces.
Flowers: Inflorescence a short-stalked, long-tapering, terminal raceme, 10-40 cm long, of densely whorled pea-like flowers, the flower-stalks 1.5-3 mm long; corollas pale lavender to whitish, 8-12 mm long, the banner densely hairy on the back, the wings glabrous, the keel fringed with hairs along the upper edges; calyces shaggy, 2-lipped, the upper lip 2-toothed, the lower lip entire.
Fruits: Pods, 1.5-2.5 cm long, shaggy with rusty hairs; seeds 4 to 6.