A curious shrub 2 to 3 ft high, with round, rush-like, somewhat hollow, zigzag, much-forked branches. Leaves 3⁄4 to 11⁄2 in. long, pinnate, composed of five or seven leaflets, which are narrow, oblong, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long, the common stalk flattened. Flowers yellow, 1⁄3 in. long, arranged in often globose umbels produced from the leaf-axils, each umbel carrying six to twelve flowers. Seed-pods very slender, about 1 in. long.
Native of S. Europe; introduced, according to Aiton, in 1656, but always rare on account of its tenderness. It has succeeded against a wall in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, but except in some such warm corner its tenure is precarious.