Herbs: shoots sparsely pubes­cent, hairs eglandular. Stems usually procumbent, sometimes ascending. Stipules: margins dentate, incised, or lacerate. Leaflets: blades obovate to obcordate, 2–7(–12) × 2–5(–10) mm, margin serrate on distal 1/3. Inflorescences 1- or 2-flowered, usually 1 ripe pod remaining on peduncle, umbels or racemes. Flowers 2–4 mm; calyx pubescent, hairs eglandular, lobes mostly equal to tube; corolla yellow, slightly longer than calyx. Legumes with 2.5–4(–5) coils, short-cylindrical, 2–4(–5) × 2–3 mm, usually pubescent with eglandular hairs, rarely glabrescent, margin prickly, prickles often relatively thin and flexible, base 2-rooted, 1 root arising in dorsal suture, other in submarginal vein; faces soft, coil face with very strongly curving radial veins that branch slightly and enter broad lateral vein near dorsal suture. Seeds yellow or brownish yellow, reniform, 1.7–2.4 × 0.9–1.3 mm; radicle usually slightly less than 1/2 seed length. 2n = 14.

Phenology: Flowering early summer.
Habitat: Rangelands, scrublands, waste places.
Elevation: 0–1000 m.

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

Introduced; Calif., Mass., Oreg., s Europe, w Asia, introduced also in Asia (China), Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia.

Discussion

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.