General:
Medium to tall shrub, 1-3 m tall; stems erect, densely branched, the branches greenish, prominently 5-angled, sparsely black-hairy, tipped with spines.

Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, leaflets 3 on young plants, reduced to stiff scales or spines pressed close to the branches in mature plants, the spines rigid, grooved, branched, 1.5-2.5 cm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of single pea-like flowers borne along the lateral branches on velvety 3- to 5-mm long stalks; corollas yellow, 15-20 mm long, the wings slightly longer than the keel, which is hairy along the lower margin; calyces yellow, membranous, 10-15 mm long, spreading-hairy, egg-shaped, 2-lobed, the lower lip minutely 3-toothed, the upper minutely 2-toothed.

Fruits:
Pods, short-oblong, flattened, black, grey- or brown-hairy, 1.5-2 cm long; seeds several, ejected by explosive splitting of the pod.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia