General:
Perennial herb from a branched stem-base; stems erect, 40-80 cm tall, slender, mostly unbranched, appressed silky-hairy to short-stiff-hairy.

Leaves:
Basal and alternate along the stem, palmately compound; leaflets 8 to 13, narrowly oblanceolate, pointed at the tip, hairy on both surfaces, 2-5 cm long, on stalks equal to the leaflets except the lowermost, which are 3-5 times as long as the blades.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a terminal raceme of numerous, whorled or somewhat scattered, pea-like flowers, the racemes 12-20 cm long, 2-4 times as long as the stalks; corollas yellow, the banner glabrous or sparsely long-hairy on the back, the wings glabrous, the keel fringed with hairs along the upper edges; calyces 2-lipped, not spurred, upper lip 2-toothed, the lower lip entire.

Fruits:
Pods, 2-3 cm long, densely silky-hairy; seeds 4 to 5, pinkish-brown.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia