Hedysarum, or sweet-vetches, have numerous flowers in stalked clusters, often tending to be 1-sided, from the upper leaf axils, with 1 or more commonly 2 small, narrow bracts at the base of each flower. The color is mostly yellowish-white, pink, or purplish. The keel of the corolla is usually longer than the banner and characteristically considerably longer than the wings, which commonly have an extra lobe at the base. The fruit is a flat pod, constricted into more or less oval, non-splitting segments, usually breaking sideways. The plants of this genus are herbaceous perennials from woody taproots, the several stems are generally hairy. The leaves are odd-pinnate with one leaflet at the end, the leaflets minutely glandular-dotted, at least above. The stipules are membranous, usually united and sheathlike, but sometimes free.
Hedysarum has about 100 species worldwide, mostly in the northern part of the N. Temperate Zone, chiefly Eurasian. The name comes from an early Greek name, hedusaron, of uncertain application.