Erect perennial woody shrubs; stems terete. Leaves opposite, alternate or in whorls, simple; margins entire, recurved or revolute; petiole short; stipules absent. Flowers axillary, solitary or in clusters, rarely in short terminal racemes; pedicels short; bracts small, ovate, caducous; bracteoles absent. Calyx 5-toothed, upper 2 teeth broader and more or less united into a lip; petals long-clawed; standard almost orbicular, apex slightly emarginate, longer than other petals; wings narrow-oblong; keel incurved; stamens free; ovary villous, shortly stipitate, style filiform, stigma terminal, minute, ovules 2. Pod ovate to obovate, flat or turgid, usually hairy; seeds usually 2, reniform, exarillate.