Perennial, copiously branched, climbing shrub with numerous, slender, glabrous or sparsely silky branches; leaves paripinnate, leaflets 20-40, opposite, deciduous, ligulate, oblong, membranous, glabrous above, thinly silky beneath; petioles short, thickened, hairy at the base, ending in a tendril or bristle; flowers in 3-8 cm long, dense racemes on axillary peduncles or short branches; inflorescence shorter than leaves; calyx campanulate, sepals 5, equal, truncate, teeth short, finely silky; corolla much exserted, 3-4 times larger than calyx, pink or violet to white, standard ovate, acute, adhering below to staminal tube, wings narrow, keel acute; stamens diadelphous-9, 10th abortive or absent, anthers uniform, with slit above; ovary subsessile, many ovuled, style short, incurved, breadless, stigma capitate; pods dehiscent, not jointed, oblong, flat or turgid, 3-5 seeded, truncate, thinly septate; seeds usually scarlet red or white with a black spot around hilum.