General: Perennial herb from extensive rhizomes; stems spreading, 20-100 cm long/tall, branched above, angled, glabrous.
Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound; leaflets 11 to 19, oblong to elliptic, 1-2 cm long, pointed, blunt or notched at the tip, papery-margined; stipules free, oblong, blunt-tipped, 2-5 mm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence a long-stalked, axillary umbel of 10 to 20 pea-like flowers that nod in bud but are horizontal in full flower, the raceme-stalks usually longer than the leaves; corollas white to pink or purple, 10-12 mm long, the banner nearly round, with an arched claw longer than the calyx, the wings and keel with ear-like lobes toward the base, the keel purple-tipped; calyces bell-shaped, 2-3 mm long.
Fruits: Pods, ascending-erect, curved, constricted between the seeds into several segments, linear, 4-angled, 2-6 cm long, breaking up into quadrangular segments; seeds 3 to 8 (10).
If more than one illustration is
available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two
subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below.
Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
