An erect shrub growing 1-3(-5) m tall. Bark is dark red. Leaves bipinnately or sometimes tripinnately compound, pinnae in 2-10 pairs, 4-9 cm long, rachis 8-12 cm long, glandless; leaflets 10-30 pairs per pinna, opposite, oblong-lanceolate, 4-10 mm x 1-2 mm, unequal sided, base rounded, top blunt with acute tip, hairy to glabrescent; stipules lanceolate, early caducous. Inflorescence a short, sometimes subcapitate, 20-40-flowered spike, 2-6 together in upper axils, the uppermost arranged in racemes; peduncle up to 2.5 cm long, pedicel 1-2 mm, articulated. Fruit a flat, membranous pod, oblong to strap-shaped, 1.5-10 cm x 0.5-2 cm, stalk about 1 cm long, apiculate, glossy brown, 1-8 seeded, valves swollen where seeds develop, transversely veined along the margins. Seeds are ovoid to lenticular, brown.

AgroForestryTree Database
PROSEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) Foundation

An infusion of the roots or leaves in vinegar and of the bark in water is used as a gargle to relieve sore throat and alleviate oral inflammations. A decoction of peeled branches with vinegar and sugar is taken as a cough medicine.