A small deciduous shrub, which in this country sends up from the base every summer a number of erect, woody stems 2 to 3 ft high, that do not survive the winter, but die back to ground-level; bark downy. Leaves trifoliolate, 3 to 5 in. long; leaflets 1 to 13⁄4 in. long, 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in. wide, oval or obovate, covered beneath with a fine down especially early in the season, apex rounded or slightly notched, the midrib ending in a short bristle; base tapered. Flowers crowded in umbellike racemes 11⁄2 in. long, which spring from the axils of the upper leaves of the shoot, rosy-purple, 1⁄2 to 5⁄8 in. long. Calyx-teeth spine-tipped. Pods ovate, 1⁄4 in. long, one-seeded.
Native of Japan and Korea; introduced to Kew in 1899. It is a pretty plant scarcely known in cultivation, and blossoms in August.