Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Crotalaria lanceolata

Crotalaria sagittalis

lanceleaf rattlebox

arrow crotalaria, arrow-head rattlebox, common rattlebox
Habit Herbs annual.
Stems

erect to decumbent, 4–40 cm, hirsute-pilose.
Leaves

unifoliolate;

stipules sometimes absent, decurrent on mid and distal stems, lanceolate-auriculate or triangular, with 2 distinct, persistent, triangular distal lobes, (3–)5–10 mm or absent (in var. blumeriana);

subsessile;

blade elliptic to oblong or linear-lanceolate, 10–80 mm, length 4–8 times width, surfaces strigose to sparsely rusty-pilose.
Racemes

(1 or)2–5-flowered, terminal, subterminal, or lateral, 2–6 cm;

bracts persistent, linear-triangular.
Flowers

calyx broadly cylindrical, 5–8 mm, lobes triangular-lanceolate, glabrous or slightly puberulous to rusty-pilose;

corolla bright yellow, 9–11 mm.
Legumes

7–27(–36) × 5–11 mm, glabrous.

Crotalaria lanceolata

Crotalaria sagittalis
Distribution
from USDA
Africa [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
United States; Mexico; Central America; West Indies
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 3–5 (1 in the flora).

Subspecies exigua Polhill and subsp. prognatha Polhill are known from Africa.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Stems 10–40 cm, erect; stipules prominent; legumes 10–27(–36) mm.
var. sagittalis
1. Stems 4–10 cm, erect to decumbent; stipules reduced or absent; legumes 7–15 mm.
var. blumeriana
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Crotalaria Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Crotalaria
Sibling taxa
C. avonensis, C. incana, C. juncea, C. ochroleuca, C. pallida, C. pumila, C. purshii, C. retusa, C. rotundifolia, C. sagittalis, C. spectabilis, C. trichotoma, C. verrucosa, C. virgulata
C. avonensis, C. incana, C. juncea, C. lanceolata, C. ochroleuca, C. pallida, C. pumila, C. purshii, C. retusa, C. rotundifolia, C. spectabilis, C. trichotoma, C. verrucosa, C. virgulata
Subordinate taxa
C. lanceolata subsp. lanceolata
C. sagittalis var. blumeriana, C. sagittalis var. sagittalis
Name authority E. Meyer in E. Meyer and J. F. Drège: Comm. Pl. Afr. Austr., 24. (1836) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 714. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers