Perennial or annual climbing herb, stem pubescent, hairs spreading. Leaf trifoliolate, petiole 0.8-7.0 cm long, leaflets 1-3.5 cm long, 0.7-7.8 cm broad, ovate rhomboid, obovate or elliptic, (the lateral leaflets oblique), obtuse or subacute, glabrescent to pubescent, petiolule 1-2 mm long; stipules 4-8 mm long. Inflorescence axillary, 1-5-flowered fascicle; peduncle 0.1-5 cm; bracts c. 2 mm long; pedicel 1-7 mm; bracteoles c. 3 mm long. Calyx pubescent, tube 2 mm long, teeth 3-8 mm long, upper 2 united together. Vexillum 0.6-1.2 cm long, cream, yellow or greenish-yellow, often with a purple spot inside. Fruit 3-5.5 cm long, 6-8 mm broad, pubescent or glabrous, acuminate.

Holotype: Cultivated at the Jardin du Roi, Paris from the seeds obtained by Sonnerat in India (P-LA).

Distribution: Pakistan; India; Sikkim; Ceylon.

Widely cultivated in the tropics. Horse gram or Madras gram, when boiled and mixed with the ordinary gram, is regarded in India as a good food for horses; green and tender parts are used as fodder.