Crotalaria platysepala Harv.

First published in Thes. Cap. 1: 19 (1860)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Tropical Africa to Namibia. It is an annual and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Zambezian woodland, Zambezian grassland, Kalahari-Highveld Regional Transition Zone - woodland, Kalahari-Highveld regional transition zone; grassland.
Morphology General Habit
Annual, Not climbing, Herb
[ILDIS]

Leguminosae, various authors. Flora Zambesiaca 3:7. 2003

Morphology General Habit
Annual, erect and spreading, (0.1)0.3–1.2 m tall; branches subappressed pubescent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets 1.5–7 × 0.4–3 cm, elliptic-oblong to ovate-oblong, appressed pubescent beneath; petiole 1–4.5 cm long; stipules 1.5–4 mm long, linear-caudate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes mostly 10–30(40) cm long, laxly or sublaxly 16–30(50)-flowered, lateral ones sometimes shorter; buds becoming reflexed, then spreading; bracts 1.5–2.5 mm long, linear-subulate; bracteoles on the calyx, 0.5–1.5 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 4.5–5.5 mm long, thinly pubescent; upper lobes oblong to spathulate, 2–3 times as long as the tube, broadly obtuse, rounded or retuse to the slightly excentric apiculate tip, overlapping lateral lobes in bud, often without woolly hairs along the margins inside.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard broadly elliptic to oblate, yellow, finely lined reddish-brown, pubescent outside; wings nearly as long as the keel; keel 7.5–11 mm long, angular, with a narrow twisted beak, lanate along upper suture.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod shortly stipitate, 8–12 × 5–6 mm, oblong-obovoid, pubescent, 6–8-seeded.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds c. 4 × 3.5 mm, oblique-cordiform, smooth, brown.
[FZ]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Common Names

English
Wild lucerne

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • International Legume Database and Information Service

    • International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Plants and People Africa

    • Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/
    • © Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • World Checklist of Vascular plants (WCVP)

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0