A deciduous shrub 6 to 8 ft high; young shoots glabrous, pale. Leaves pinnate, 11⁄2 to 3 in. long, made up of five to eleven leaflets, which are obovate or obcordate, tapered to the base, broad at the apex and either rounded or indented there, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long, glabrous or sparingly downy beneath. Racemes of three or four flowers, each about 3⁄4 in. long, pure yellow, the wing-petals longer than the keel; calyx funnel-shaped with five sharp teeth. Pod inflated, glabrous, 11⁄2 to 2 in. long, open at the end.
Native of Persia and Kurdistan. It resembles C. orientalis in foliage, although not so glaucous, and that species has brownish-red flowers. Baskets and panniers are made of its branchlets in Persia.
var. buhsei Boiss. – Pods furnished with appressed hairs; leaves and flowers somewhat larger.