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rattlebox, showy crotalaria, showy rattlebox

low rattlebox

Habit Herbs annual. Herbs annual or perennial.
Stems

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

sometimes ligneous basally, mostly decumbent to prostrate, 15–100 cm, minutely and sparsely strigillose.

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 caducous, narrowly triangular, setaceous, 0.5–1 mm;

leaflet blades narrowly obovate to oblong or elliptic-oblong, 7–15(–35) mm, length 1.5–3.5(–6) 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.

(1–)4–8-flowered, terminal, subterminal, or lateral, 1–6(–10) cm;

bracts caducous, subulate.

Flowers

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

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

calyx campanulate, 3–5.5 mm, lobes triangular, strigose;

corolla yellow, often red- or orange-tinged or red-lined, 7–11 mm.

Legumes

30–45 × 10–20 mm, glabrous.

yellowish, 12–20 × 4–8 mm, minutely strigillose.

2n

= 16.

= 32.

Crotalaria spectabilis

Crotalaria pumila

Phenology Flowering (Jan–)Aug–Oct (year-round). Flowering Aug–Oct, Dec–May.
Habitat Grassy or fallow fields, roadsides, ditches, borrow pits, lake edges, disturbed areas. Sandy waste areas, dunes, sand ridges, sandy pine woods, dune thickets, hammock margins, grassy hillsides, creek bottoms, alluvium.
Elevation 10–200 m. [30–700 ft.] 0–10 m, 1100–1800 m. [0–30 ft, 3600–5900 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 FNA
AZ; FL; NM; OK; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
[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.)

Plants of Crotalaria pumila in the south-central and southwestern United States tend to have more elongate leaflets than those from Florida and are often found on grassy hillsides, creek bottoms, and in alluvium, from 1100–1800 m; flowering is from August to October. In Florida, it is found in low elevation, mostly sandy habitats, and flowers from December to May. It was collected on chrome ore piles in Baltimore, Maryland, in the 1950s but did not become established there. A record cited by H. A. Senn (1939) attributed to Utah is doubtful, and no subsequent specimens have been reported from that state.

(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. incana, C. juncea, C. lanceolata, C. ochroleuca, C. pallida, 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) Ortega: Nov. Pl. Descr. Dec. 2: 23. (1797)
Source FNA vol. 11. Treatment author: Guy L. Nesom. FNA vol. 11. Treatment author: Guy L. Nesom.
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