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rattlebox, showy crotalaria, showy rattlebox

curara pea, West Indian rattlebox

Habit Herbs annual. Herbs annual or short-lived perennial.
Stems

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

suffrutescent basally, erect, 75–250 cm, strigose to strigillose, hairs tightly appressed.

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.

3-foliolate;

stipules absent;

leaflet blades elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate or elliptic-oblanceolate, 40–100(–140) mm, length 3–4.5 times width, surfaces strigose abaxially, glabrous adaxially.

Racemes

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

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

10–50-flowered, terminal, subterminal, or lateral, 10–40 cm;

bracts persistent, linear-subulate.

Flowers

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

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

calyx broadly cylindrical, basally truncate and deflexed against pedicel, 4–6 mm (length less than width), lobes triangular-lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely strigillose;

corolla yellow with prominent reddish lines, each wing with a purple spot at base, 12–15 mm.

Legumes

30–45 × 10–20 mm, glabrous.

30–45 × 7–12 mm, sparsely to densely strigose to strigose-sericeous.

2n

= 16.

Crotalaria spectabilis

Crotalaria trichotoma

Phenology Flowering (Jan–)Aug–Oct (year-round). Flowering probably year-round.
Habitat Grassy or fallow fields, roadsides, ditches, borrow pits, lake edges, disturbed areas. Roadsides.
Elevation 10–200 m. (0–700 ft.) 0–10 m. (0–0 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; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Central America (Nicaragua), South America (Argentina, Peru), Asia (China, Java, Sri Lanka, Sumatra), Indian Ocean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia]
Discussion

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

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

In the flora area, Crotalaria trichotoma has been found only in Miami-Dade County.

R. M. Polhill (1982) stated that Crotalaria trichotoma does not belong in the genus Crotalaria, without stating its placement elsewhere. In contrast, D. Isely (1998) observed that C. trichotoma resembles the common C. pallida in flower but that the latter has wider leaflets and caducous bracts; the similarity of C. trichotoma to many other crotalarias is confirmed here.

(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. avonensis, C. incana, C. juncea, C. lanceolata, C. ochroleuca, C. pallida, C. pumila, C. purshii, C. retusa, C. rotundifolia, C. sagittalis, C. spectabilis, C. verrucosa, C. virgulata
Synonyms C. retzii C. usaramoensis, C. zanzibarica
Name authority Roth: Nov. Pl. Sp., 341. (1821) Bojer: Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., sér. 2, 4: 265. (1835)
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