Usually a long-lived creeping or scrambling vine with stems up to 1.5 m long. Its grooved stems are densely covered with hooked or curved hairs and readily adhere to skin or clothing. Its alternately arranged leaves are compound with three leaflets and are borne on stalks 2-5.5 cm long. Its leaflets (2-12 cm long) are have pointed tips and their upper surfaces sometimes have some small reddish-brown markings. Its pea-shaped flowers are arranged in elongated clusters at the tips of the stems or in the upper leaf forks. These pink or purplish flowers (about 10 mm long) sometimes turn bluish or whitish as they age. Its elongated pods (1-5 cm long) are covered in hooked hairs, and readily separate into 3-11 small one-seeded segments.