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

General:
Annual herb; stems prostrate or decumbent, 30-80 cm tall, nearly glabrous or with long soft hairs.

Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound; leaflets 3, egg- to heart-shaped, purple-blotched near the centre, jagged-toothed in the upper half, 1.5-3 cm long; stipules coarse-toothed, not sheathing.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of 1 to 5 pea-like flowers in a reduced, axillary raceme on a stalk 1-3 cm long, the stalks shorter than the leaves; corollas yellow, about 5 mm long, the banner longer than the wings and keel; calyces sparsely white-hairy, 2-3 mm long, the lanceolate, long-pointed teeth slightly longer than the tube.

Fruits:
Pods, coiled through 3 to 5 spirals, round, 4-8 mm in diameter, the outer margins with 2 rows of curved or hooked spines 2.5-3.5 mm long; seeds several.