Herbs annual. Stem erect or procumbent. Leaves paripinnate with rachis terminating in a tendril or mucro; stipules obliquely lanceolate; leaflets 2- to many paired, obovate, obovate-oblong, or obovate-lanceolate, margin entire. Inflorescence a 1- to many-flowered raceme. Flowers small. Calyx deeply divided into equal teeth at least 2 × as long as tube. Corolla white or otherwise colored; standard obovate; wings and keel with claw and auricle. Stamens diadelphous; staminal tube oblique at apex; filaments filiform. Ovary shortly stalked or subsessile; style dorsally compressed, pubescent on upper side. Legume short, strongly com­pressed. Seeds 1 or 2, brown, lenticular.

Four to six species: Mediterranean region to C Asia, extending to the Canary islands and tropical Africa: one species (introduced) in China.

(Authors: Bao Bojian (包伯坚); Nicholas J. Turland)