Flora of North America species comparison

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Crotalaria spectabilis

Crotalaria incana

rattlebox, showy crotalaria, showy rattlebox

fuzzy rattlepod, shake-shake, wooly rattlepod
Habit Herbs annual.
Stems

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

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.

Racemes

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

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

Flowers

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

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

Legumes

30–45 × 10–20 mm, glabrous.

2n

= 16.

Crotalaria spectabilis

Crotalaria incana
Phenology Flowering (Jan–)Aug–Oct (year-round).
Habitat Grassy or fallow fields, roadsides, ditches, borrow pits, lake edges, disturbed areas.
Elevation 10–200 m. [30–700 ft.]
Distribution
map 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]
map from USDA
Africa; intro­duced widely [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)

Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).

Both subspecies of Crotalaria incana are native to southeast Africa, where they are partially sympatric. Subspecies purpurascens (Lamarck) Milne-Redhead occurs also in Madagascar. Plants of the latter are characterized as shrubs or creeping herbs, the stems with long, yellow-brown, spreading hairs (versus shorter, more appressed hairs in subsp. incana), inflorescence bracts usually 4–10 (versus 1–3) mm, and calyx lobes pilose (versus glabrate).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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. 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
Subordinate taxa
C. incana var. incana
Synonyms C. retzii
Name authority Roth: Nov. Pl. Sp., 341. (1821) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 716. (1753)
Source FNA vol. 11. Treatment author: Guy L. Nesom. FNA vol. 11. Treatment author: Guy L. Nesom.
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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).



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