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rattlebox, showy crotalaria, showy rattlebox

avon park rattlebox

Habit Herbs annual. Herbs perennial.
Stems

suffrutescent basally, erect, 50–150 cm, glabrous.

erect to slightly spreading, 2–10 cm, strigose to sericeous.

Leaves

unifoliolate;

stipules ovate to ovate-lanceolate, not decurrent on stem, 4–7 mm;

blade obovate to elliptic, 50–150 mm, length 1.5–2.5 times width, surfaces glaucous, strigose abaxially, glabrous-punctate adaxially.

unifoliolate;

stipules absent;

blade oblong, elliptic to ovate, or suborbiculate, (5–)8–19 mm, length 1.3–3.5 times width, surfaces loosely strigose-sericeous.

Racemes

12–22-flowered, terminal, subterminal, or lateral, 10–50 cm;

bracts persistent, cordate-auriculate, 5–8 mm.

(1 or)2–8-flowered, terminal, subterminal, or lateral, 2–6 cm;

bracts persistent, linear-triangular.

Flowers

calyx broadly cylindrical, 10–15 mm, lobes triangular-lanceolate, glabrous;

corolla bright yellow, faintly red-lined, 17–25 mm.

calyx cylindrical, 7–8 mm, lobes triangular-lanceolate, loosely strigose;

corolla bright yellow, 8–9 mm.

Legumes

30–45 × 10–20 mm, glabrous.

14–25 × 6–8 mm, glabrous or sparsely strigose on abaxial suture.

2n

= 16.

Crotalaria spectabilis

Crotalaria avonensis

Phenology Flowering (Jan–)Aug–Oct (year-round). Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat Grassy or fallow fields, roadsides, ditches, borrow pits, lake edges, disturbed areas. White sands, scrub dominated by Florida rosemary, oaks, and/or sand pine, disturbed areas along roads and trails.
Elevation 10–200 m. (0–700 ft.) 30–50 m. (100–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; SC; TN; TX; VA; Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Indian Ocean Islands (Reúnion), Pacific Islands]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In Texas, Crotalaria spectabilis is known from Brazos, Cameron, Karnes, and Liberty counties.

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

Crotalaria avonensis is known only from northern Highlands and southern Polk counties on the Lake Wales Ridge; it is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

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

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. lanceolata, C. ochroleuca, C. pallida, C. pumila, C. purshii, C. retusa, C. rotundifolia, C. sagittalis, C. trichotoma, C. verrucosa, C. virgulata
C. incana, C. juncea, C. lanceolata, C. ochroleuca, C. pallida, C. pumila, C. purshii, C. retusa, C. rotundifolia, C. sagittalis, C. spectabilis, C. trichotoma, C. verrucosa, C. virgulata
Synonyms C. retzii
Name authority Roth: Nov. Pl. Sp., 341. (1821) DeLaney & Wunderlin: Sida 13: 315, figs. 1–5. (1989)
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