diff --git a/docs/main.rst b/docs/main.rst
index cc89d1d..1f9c7d6 100644
--- a/docs/main.rst
+++ b/docs/main.rst
@@ -110,3 +110,6 @@ The :mod:`ihm` Python module
 
 .. autoclass:: Collection
    :members:
+
+.. autoclass:: BranchDescriptor
+   :members:
diff --git a/ihm/__init__.py b/ihm/__init__.py
index b532c15..e08bbfa 100644
--- a/ihm/__init__.py
+++ b/ihm/__init__.py
@@ -1299,6 +1299,11 @@ def get_chem_comp(s):
         self.references = []
         self.references.extend(references)
 
+        #: String descriptors of branched chemical structure.
+        #: These generally only make sense for oligosaccharide entities,
+        #: and should be a list of :class:`BranchDescriptor` objects.
+        self.branch_descriptors = []
+
     def __str__(self):
         return "<ihm.Entity(%s)>" % self.description
 
@@ -1584,3 +1589,22 @@ class Collection(object):
     """
     def __init__(self, id, name=None, details=None):
         self.id, self.name, self.details = id, name, details
+
+
+class BranchDescriptor(object):
+    """String descriptor of branched chemical structure.
+       These generally only make sense for oligosaccharide entities.
+       See :attr:`Entity.branch_descriptors`.
+
+       :param str text: The value of this descriptor.
+       :param str type: The type of the descriptor; one of
+              "Glycam Condensed Core Sequence", "Glycam Condensed Sequence",
+              "LINUCS", or "WURCS".
+       :param str program: The name of the program or library used to compute
+              the descriptor.
+       :param str program_version: The version of the program or library
+              used to compute the descriptor.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, text, type, program=None, program_version=None):
+        self.text, self.type = text, type
+        self.program, self.program_version = program, program_version
diff --git a/ihm/dumper.py b/ihm/dumper.py
index c840f1d..609a4ed 100644
--- a/ihm/dumper.py
+++ b/ihm/dumper.py
@@ -751,6 +751,19 @@ def dump(self, system, writer):
                              auth_mon_id=comp.id)
 
 
+class _BranchDescriptorDumper(Dumper):
+    def dump(self, system, writer):
+        ordinal = itertools.count(1)
+        with writer.loop("_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor",
+                         ["ordinal", "entity_id", "descriptor", "type",
+                          "program", "program_version"]) as lp:
+            for entity in system.entities:
+                for d in entity.branch_descriptors:
+                    lp.write(ordinal=next(ordinal), entity_id=entity._id,
+                             descriptor=d.text, type=d.type, program=d.program,
+                             program_version=d.program_version)
+
+
 class _AsymIDProvider(object):
     """Provide unique asym IDs"""
     def __init__(self, seen_ids):
@@ -3293,7 +3306,7 @@ class IHMVariant(Variant):
         _EntityPolyDumper, _EntityNonPolyDumper, _EntityPolySeqDumper,
         _EntityPolySegmentDumper, _EntityBranchListDumper, _EntityBranchDumper,
         _StructAsymDumper, _PolySeqSchemeDumper,
-        _NonPolySchemeDumper, _BranchSchemeDumper,
+        _NonPolySchemeDumper, _BranchSchemeDumper, _BranchDescriptorDumper,
         _AssemblyDumper, _ExternalReferenceDumper,
         _DatasetDumper, _ModelRepresentationDumper, _StartingModelDumper,
         _ProtocolDumper, _PostProcessDumper, _PseudoSiteDumper,
diff --git a/ihm/reader.py b/ihm/reader.py
index 084ad4f..feccc41 100644
--- a/ihm/reader.py
+++ b/ihm/reader.py
@@ -2544,6 +2544,16 @@ def __call__(self, entity_id, comp_id, num):
         s.sequence[seq_id - 1] = self.sysr.chem_comps.get_by_id(comp_id)
 
 
+class _BranchDescriptorHandler(Handler):
+    category = '_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor'
+
+    def __call__(self, entity_id, descriptor, type, program, program_version):
+        e = self.sysr.entities.get_by_id(entity_id)
+        d = ihm.BranchDescriptor(text=descriptor, type=type, program=program,
+                                 program_version=program_version)
+        e.branch_descriptors.append(d)
+
+
 class _CrossLinkListHandler(Handler):
     category = '_ihm_cross_link_list'
     ignored_keywords = ['entity_description_1', 'entity_description_2',
@@ -3363,7 +3373,7 @@ class IHMVariant(Variant):
         _SphereHandler, _TorusHandler, _HalfTorusHandler, _AxisHandler,
         _PlaneHandler, _GeometricRestraintHandler, _PolySeqSchemeHandler,
         _NonPolySchemeHandler, _BranchSchemeHandler, _EntityBranchListHandler,
-        _CrossLinkListHandler,
+        _BranchDescriptorHandler, _CrossLinkListHandler,
         _CrossLinkRestraintHandler, _CrossLinkPseudoSiteHandler,
         _CrossLinkResultHandler, _StartingModelSeqDifHandler,
         _OrderedEnsembleHandler]
diff --git a/test/test_dumper.py b/test/test_dumper.py
index 5f30f00..4a95370 100644
--- a/test/test_dumper.py
+++ b/test/test_dumper.py
@@ -4521,6 +4521,31 @@ def test_branch_scheme_dumper(self):
 #
 """)
 
+    def test_branch_descriptor_dumper(self):
+        """Test BranchDescriptorDumper"""
+        system = ihm.System()
+        e1 = ihm.Entity([ihm.SaccharideChemComp('NAG')])
+        bd1 = ihm.BranchDescriptor('foo', type='typ1', program='prog',
+                                   program_version='1.0')
+        bd2 = ihm.BranchDescriptor('bar', type='typ2')
+        e1.branch_descriptors.extend((bd1, bd2))
+        system.entities.append(e1)
+        ihm.dumper._EntityDumper().finalize(system)
+        dumper = ihm.dumper._BranchDescriptorDumper()
+        out = _get_dumper_output(dumper, system)
+        self.assertEqual(out, """#
+loop_
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.ordinal
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.entity_id
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.descriptor
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.type
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.program
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.program_version
+1 1 foo typ1 prog 1.0
+2 1 bar typ2 . .
+#
+""")
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/test/test_main.py b/test/test_main.py
index f420902..644959f 100644
--- a/test/test_main.py
+++ b/test/test_main.py
@@ -1083,6 +1083,15 @@ def test_unknown(self):
         # Should act like False
         self.assertFalse(u)
 
+    def test_branch_descriptor(self):
+        """Test the BranchDescriptor class"""
+        bd = ihm.BranchDescriptor(text='foo', type='bar', program='baz',
+                                  program_version="1.0")
+        self.assertEqual(bd.text, 'foo')
+        self.assertEqual(bd.type, 'bar')
+        self.assertEqual(bd.program, 'baz')
+        self.assertEqual(bd.program_version, '1.0')
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/test/test_reader.py b/test/test_reader.py
index 8117b1e..edd3d96 100644
--- a/test/test_reader.py
+++ b/test/test_reader.py
@@ -4400,6 +4400,31 @@ def test_entity_branch_list_handler(self):
         c1, c2, c3, c4 = e1.sequence
         self.assertEqual([c.id for c in e1.sequence], ['BGC'] * 4)
 
+    def test_entity_branch_descriptor_handler(self):
+        """Test EntityBranchDescriptorHandler"""
+        fh = StringIO("""
+loop_
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.ordinal
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.entity_id
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.descriptor
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.type
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.program
+_pdbx_entity_branch_descriptor.program_version
+1 1 foo typ1 prog 1.0
+2 1 bar typ2 . .
+""")
+        s, = ihm.reader.read(fh)
+        e1, = s.entities
+        bd1, bd2 = e1.branch_descriptors
+        self.assertEqual(bd1.text, 'foo')
+        self.assertEqual(bd1.type, 'typ1')
+        self.assertEqual(bd1.program, 'prog')
+        self.assertEqual(bd1.program_version, '1.0')
+        self.assertEqual(bd2.text, 'bar')
+        self.assertEqual(bd2.type, 'typ2')
+        self.assertIsNone(bd2.program)
+        self.assertIsNone(bd2.program_version)
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()