Crotalaria pycnostachya Benth.

First published in London J. Bot. 2: 584 (1843)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is NE. & E. Tropical Africa, SW. Arabian Peninsula. It is an annual and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Morphology General Habit
Annual, much branched, either erect and bushy or with mostly radiating decumbent branches, up to 1·5–13 dm. tall.
Morphology Stem
Stem conspicuously ribbed, shortly appressed pubescent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets wedge-shaped, oblanceolate or oblong-oblanceolate, up to 20–44 mm. long, 5–16 mm. wide, long-cuneate, glabrous above, thinly appressed puberulous beneath; petiole up to 12–18 mm. long.
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules filiform, 3–7 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes subsessile or shortly pedunculate, dense, up to 4–9 cm. long, many-flowered; bracts linear, 1·5–3(–4) mm. long; bracteoles inserted at the top of the short pedicel, small.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 2–2·5 mm. long, glabrous or with very small hairs on the lobes; lobes triangular, a little longer than the tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard obovate, pale yellow, glabrous outside; wings longer than the keel; keel abruptly rounded, with a short untwisted beak, 4–5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod subsessile, shortly oblong-clavate, 12–15 mm. long, 3–5 mm. across, appressed puberulous, ± 8–10-seeded.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds oblique-cordiform, ± 2 mm. long, slightly rugulose, pale brown, mottled darker.
Habitat
Grassland and deciduous bushland, stony hillsides and dry river banks, becoming a weed of cultivated and waste ground, mainly in low rainfall areas; 750–1680 m.
Distribution
K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 K6 K7 T1 T2 U1 also in tropical Arabia
[FTEA]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Somalia-Masai anthropic landscapes, Somalia-Masai bushland and thicket, Somalia-Masai grasslands
Morphology General Habit
Annual, Not climbing, Herb
[ILDIS]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Much-branched annual, up to 15–130 cm tall; stem ribbed, shortly appressed pubescent
Morphology Leaves Leaflets
Leaflets 3, oblanceolate, up to 20–50 x 5–16 mm, glabrous above, thinly appressed puberulous beneath; petioles shorter than the leaflets
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules filiform, 2–9 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes subsessile, short, dense, many-flowered
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 1.5–6 mm long, glabrous or almost so
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard pale to bright yellow, glabrous outside; keel subangular to abruptly rounded, 4–10 mm long, with an untwisted beak
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod 10–15(–20) x 3–5 mm, appressed puberulous, c. 8–20-seeded.
[FSOM]

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]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • Flora of Somalia

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

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • 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

  • 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