| Dicotyledon | Literature for Crotalaria pallida
Wagner et al., 1990, 1999; Lorence & Wagner, 2020. |
| Fabaceae -- The Pea Family | Bibliography |
| Crotalaria pallida | |
Common name(s): rattlepod, kolomona (Ni`ihau), pikakani, smooth rattlepod |
| General Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Distribution | Native to Africa.In the Hawaiian Islands, naturalized on Midway, Ni`ihau, Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui, Hawai`i. | |
| Habit |
Perennial herb or subshrub; stems ascending or erect, 10–20 dm long, striate, glabrous or appressed short pubescent. |
|
| Leaves |
Leaves trifoliolate; leaflets elliptic, ovate, or oblanceolate, 2.8–9.5 cm long, 1.2–4.5 cm wide, veins 6–12 on each side of midrib, adaxial surface glabrous or sparsely pubescent, abaxial surface appressed short pubescent, apex rounded to acute, occasionally retuse, base cuneate or rounded; petiole 22–67 mm long; stipules absent or minute and narrowly triangular, ca. 1 mm long. |
|
| Flowers |
Inflorescences a terminal, somewhat lax raceme, 22–75-flowered, rachis 15–40 cm long (including peduncle); bracts linear triangular, 3–4 mm long, ascending, caducous, bracteoles at base of calyx, narrowly triangular. Flowers 9–15 mm long; calyx densely appressed short pubescent, tube 3–4 mm long, lobes 3.5–4.5 mm long, lateral lobes distinct at apex; petals yellow with lines near base, standard 9–12 mm long, 7–9 mm wide, striate, wings oblong obovate, 6–10 mm long, 2.8–3.8 mm wide, keel petals striate, with nontwisted prolonged beak, margin ciliate; elongated anthers 2.5–3.2 mm long, short ones 0.5–0.8 mm long. |
|
| Fruit |
Fruit brown at maturity, 3.5–3.8 cm long, stipitate, stipe less than 3 mm long, glabrous or sparsely appressed short-pubescent. |
|
| Seeds |
Seeds ca. 36 per pod, brown, to 2.8 mm long, smooth. |
|
| Chromosomes |
2n = 14, 16. |
|
| Contributor |
Nancy Khan |
