A deciduous bush up to 12 ft high, with stout, pithy branchlets and prominent buds; twigs glabrous. Leaves 6 to 10 in. long, opposite, consisting usually of seven or nine leaflets. Leaflets opposite, ovate, 21⁄2 to 4 in. long, long-pointed, shallowly toothed, glabrous except for a little down near the base of the midrib. Panicle terminal, branching, 4 to 9 in. long, carrying numerous yellowish white flowers, each about 1⁄4 in. across. Fruit consisting of three somewhat boat-shaped, spreading, rosy pink pods, 1⁄2 in. long; seeds black.
Native of China, Korea, and Japan. It is not very hardy, and can be grown outside permanently only in the mildest localities.