Erect annual herb to about 0.5 m tall. Leaflets 1-3, each to 1.5 cm long. Flowers 1-2 per leaf axil, each to 2 cm long, creamy, sometimes tinged with purple; summer. Fruit pods linear or curved and containing many seeds.
A source of dye and various medicines but generally grown in herb gardens or as forage. The seeds are used as a spice in curries and for other culinary purposes.
Origin uncertain, probably the Mediterranean region.
Source: (2002). Fabaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.