Shrubs 0.3-2 m tall. Bark dark brown, dark gray, or grayish brown. Leaves pinnate, 8-12-foliolate; petiole and rachis 5-7 cm, persistent; leaflet blades oblong, 11-15 × 4-6 mm, base rounded, apex rounded to acute. Flowers solitary. Pedicel ca. 0.5 mm, articulate basally. Calyx tube tubular, 1.4-1.7 cm. Corolla rosy, reddish purple, bright purple, pink, or white, 2.5-3.9 cm; standard broadly ovate; wings oblong, claw 2/3-3/4 as long as limb, auricles 1 or 2 and linear, subulate, or triangular. Ovary villous. Legume to 3 cm, densely villous. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 16.
Slopes, forest margins; 2400-4700 m. Gansu, Hebei, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, N Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, N Yunnan [Bhutan, India (Sikkim), Mongolia, Nepal, E Russia].
The distribution of this species is wide. The morphological characters are variable and are found under several varieties.
