Tree, to 8 m tall; young stems, leaf axes, and inflorescence branches tomentose. Leaves bipinnate with 2 or 3 pairs of opposite pinnae; petioles 4-6 cm long with a small gland near the base; stipules paired, oblong, acute, to 1 cm long, persistent; rachis slightly longer with a similar gland at each node; pinnular rachis 10-15 cm long with a gland at all but the lowermost nodes; leaflets in 4-8 (9) pairs per pinna, opposite, sessile, asymmetrical, oblong to elliptic, acuminate often ending in a slender dark cusp, acute to rounded at base, 2-9 cm long, l-3 cm wide (to 6 cm long and 2 cm wide in South America), gradually reduced in size toward base, sparsely to densely pubescent on midrib. Flowers dense on densely clustered, axillary spikes to 2 cm long, usually at defoliated nodes; peduncles short; floral rachis swollen beneath flower, forming a small shelf; bracts ca 1.5 mm long; calyx to 4 mm long, irregularly lobed, usually deeply divided on one side, sparsely pubescent and ciliate; corolla white, to 5 mm long, sparsely pubescent, +/- regularly 5-lobed; staminal tube exserted; anthers and apex of filaments red-violet; anthers broader than long, attached basally, the thecae directed upward. Legumes ca 8 cm long and 1 cm wide, bearing dense, golden-brown, tomentose pubescence, flattened with a narrow marginal ridge. Croat 17024, 17027, Foster 1676. Known only from the shore along Chapman Cove. Flowers in the dry season. The fruits mature in the early rainy season. Mature specimens on BCI differ from mature South American specimens by having larger leaflets, with the lower edge often obtuse to acute, compared to the somewhat auriculate edge in the South American material.