Duscr. A tall evergreen woody climber, with dark green. 
glossy foliage and copious panicled racemes of purple 
flowers, glabrous except the puberulous young shoots and 
panicles and petioles. Leaves eight to twelve inches long, 
with three to seven pairs of leaflets and an odd one; petiole 
_and rachis slender ; leaflets very shortly petiolulate, about 
two inches long, oblong or elliptic, subacute or shortly 
acuminate, dark green on both surfaces, glossy above, nerves 
delicate; stipules caducous. Racemes pendulous, slender, — 
panicled, four to eight inches long, rachis pubescent ; 
flowers numerous, about two-thirds of an inch in diameter, 
purple, except the back of the standard, which is nearly 
white; pedicels short, slender. Calyx short, base hemi- 
spheric ; lips subequal, upper truncate, lower trifid. Stan- 
dard orbicular, limb emarginate at the much thickened 
base just above the claw. Wings boat-shaped, subacute, 
bases auricled. Keel obtuse. Upper stamen free. Ovary 
many-ovuled. Pod four inches long, very thick, falcate and 
flattened, densely velvety, few-seeded, tardily dehiscent ; 
valves woody. Seeds broad, thick, two-thirds of an inch 
in diameter ; testa brown, hilum elongate.—J. D. H. 
Fig. 1, section of calyx, staminal tube, and ovary; 2, calyx; 3, standard ; 
4, wings; 5, tips of ditto, showing their cohesion; 6, ovary; 7, staminal tube :— 
all a little enlarged. 
