Wild licorice

General: aromatic, glandular plant, 30-120 cm tall. Growth habit: erect perennial from deep, extensive, woody rhizomes.
Stems: leafy, sticky with stalked or stalkless glands.
Leaves: alternate, with 11-19 lance-shaped leaflets, 2-4 cm long, entire, glandular-dotted under magnification,
abruptly sharp-pointed. Stipules small, linear, membranous, soon withering.
Flowers: yellowish-white, 10-15 mm long, numerous in dense, long-stalked, bracted, clusters from leaf axils. Banner only slightly reflexed from the narrow wings and the sharp-pointed keel. Calyx with 5 teeth, awl-shaped, the upper two partially fused.
Flowering time: May-August.
Fruits: pod brown, 10-15 mm long, stalkless, 1-celled, few-seeded, staying closed, covered with hooked bristles.