Herbs, short-lived or perennial, erect to ascending, 10-80 cm tall. Stems sometimes branched above base, occasionally branched only at base, appressed pubescent to spreading pilose. Stipules acicular, minute, caducous, sometimes apparently ab­sent. Leaves simple, subsessile; leaf blade oblanceolate, elliptic, or obovate, 1-2.5 × 0.4-1.2 cm, abaxially strigose, adaxially glabrous, base cuneate, apex obtuse and mucronate. Racemes terminal, often on lateral branches, rarely leaf-opposed, to 20 cm, 20-30-flowered; bracts filiform, ca. 1 mm. Pedicel 3-5 mm; bracteoles inserted at base of calyx tube, similar to bracts. Ca­lyx 2-lipped, 4-8 mm, parted; abaxial 3 lobes lanceolate; adax­ial 2 lobes broader, falcate, apices slightly obtuse to acuminate. Corolla pale yellow; standard elliptic, 5-8 mm, base with appendages, apex barbate; wings oblong, ± as long as standard; keel rounded, narrowed apically from middle and extended into a twisted beak. Ovary subsessile. Legume cylindric, ca. 1 cm, slightly exserted beyond calyx, 6-12-seeded, glabrous. Fl. May-Sep, fr. Sep-Dec.

Open montane forests, grassy slopes, along trails; 200-2800 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cam­bodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Pacific islands].