Japan Flora: Scandent, slightly pubescent annual; stems 60-150 cm. long; stipules bifid; leaflets 12-14, membranous, oblanceolate to broadly linear, 2-3 cm. long, 4-6 mm. wide, truncate to retuse and mucronate at apex, the lateral nerves forming an acute angle with the midrib; flowers reddish purple, 12-18 mm. long; calyx 8-12 mm. long, the teeth less than half as long as the tube, broadly linear, acuminate; legumes flat.

Common throughout Japan.

f. normalis (Makino) Ohwi. Plant without tendrils. Rare in Japan.

var. minor (Bertol.) Ohwi. Of more slen­der habit; leaflets linear-lanceolate to nearly linear, 15-25 mm. long, 2-5 mm. wide, rounded to truncate at apex, the lower ones usually obovate, 5-10 mm. long, retuse; flowers slightly smaller. More rare in our area than the var. segetalis. Apr.-June. Grassy places and waste ground in lowlands; Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; common. The typical phase occurs widely in temperate regions of the world.