Lianas, 6-7 m, evergreen. Leaves (3 or)5-foliolate; rachis 5-14 cm, including petiole 2.5-3.5 cm; leaflet blades elliptic, oblong, or obovate-oblong, 5-8(-15) × 2-5(-7) cm, leathery, glabrous, base broadly cuneate to rounded, apex obtuse and slightly emarginate. Inflorescence rachis and pedicels thinly pu­berulent; pseudopanicles terminal or axillary, 15-30 cm, nar­row; rachis nodes with up to 15 flowers on short filiform branchlets. Pedicel ca. 1 cm. Flowers 1-1.2 cm. Calyx red, obliquely campanulate, ca. 4.5 mm, appressed pubescent but glabrescent. Corolla whitish, 1-1.2 cm; standard suborbicular, puberulent, apex emarginate. Ovary sessile, yellowish pubes­cent. Legume obliquely ovoid to obliquely oblong, 2-5 × 2.2-2.5 cm, compressed, glabrous; abaxial suture with a ca. 1 mm wide wing, adaxial suture with a 3-4 mm wide wing. Seeds 1 or 2 per legume. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Jul-Oct.

Derris alborubra is represented in China by the typical variety. Another variety, Derris alborubra var. honheoensis P. K. Lôc, is endemic to Vietnam.

Sparse forests or thickets on mountain slopes. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan [Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam].