A deciduous bushy shrub 11⁄2 to 2 ft high, of sturdy habit, with crooked branches and pale greyish young shoots. Leaves from 1⁄2 in. long on the flowering twigs, to 11⁄2 in. long on the stronger flowerless shoots of the year; leaflets three, glossy green, roundish, irregularly toothed, glabrous, from 1⁄8 to 5⁄8 in. wide, the middle one stalked and larger, the side ones stalkless, or nearly so. Flowers yellow, 1⁄2 in. long, produced often in pairs along a crooked, hairy, terminal raceme, 3 to 6 in. high. The standard petal is 1⁄3 in. across, and the calyx consists of five-pointed, awl-shaped lobes covered with glandular hairs. Pods glandular-hairy, with the calyx persisting at the base.
Native of the Pyrenees southward into Spain, and of N. Africa; introduced in 1816. This is a pretty dwarf shrub, flowering from mid-May onwards. It bears its erect racemes very freely, the larger ones carrying ten or twelve pairs of blossoms. It does not ripen seed freely here, but can be increased by cuttings of half-ripened wood. It must have a sunny position, and the soil should be light loam. Suitable for the rock garden. It is perfectly hardy.
