Herb, 1-2.5 m tall; stems and rachises hispid, the trichomes yellow, glandular, 2-4 mm long. Leaves pinnate, 10-15 cm long; stipules 1-2 cm long, acute; petioles 8-10 mm long; leaflets in 15-20 pairs, short-petiolulate, oblong, rounded to retuse at apex, subcordate and slightly asymmetrical at base, 10-15 (30) mm long, 3-5 (8) mm wide, glabrous, lighter below, the midvein central. Cymes terminal, to ca 4 cm long; bracts foliaceous, ovate, subacuminate, ca 4 mm long and 2 mm wide, setaceous on margins; flowers few, yellow; calyx bilabiate, the upper lip trifid, the lower lip bifid, ca 6 mm long, subtended by 2 bracts; corolla reflexed, the standard 8-10 mm long, the claw 2 mm long, the blade orbicular, 5-8 mm diam, noticeably serrulate-ciliate; stamens ca 8 mm long. Loments mostly 8-10-articulate on stipes 5-10 mm long, smooth, hispid, the margins entire; articles ca 4 mm long and 6 mm wide; seeds 3-4 mm long and ca 2 mm wide. Foster 1403. Rare; collected once at the margin of the lake near the dock. Apparently flowers and fruits principally from November to January. Southern Mexico to Ecuador and Amazonian Brazil; Jamaica. In Panama, known only from tropical moist forest in the Canal Zone and the immediate vicinity, usually near water.