Crotalaria reptans Taub.

First published in H.G.A.Engler (ed.), Pflanzenw. Ost-Afrikas, C: 204 (1895)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Uganda to S. Tropical Africa. It is an annual or subshrub 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 or short-lived perennial, with a short erect leading shoot and many long trailing much-divided pilose branches from the base, up to 3–7·5 dm. long.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets narrowly to broadly elliptic or obovate, up to 20–43 mm. long, 14–30 mm. wide, with those of the leading shoot up to 53 mm. long and proportionally narrower, glabrous or sparsely pilose above, appressed pilose beneath; petiole up to 8–32 mm. long.
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules linear-subulate, 1–3 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes subumbelliform, usually longer than the opposed leaf, (2·5–)4–11 cm. long, usually ± 2–4-flowered (up to 8-flowered in southern Africa); bracts linear or filiform, 1–1·5 mm. long; bracteoles inserted at the top of the pedicel, filiform, up to 1 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx shorter than the corolla, (4·5–)6–8 mm. long, pubescent or shortly pilose; lobes subulate, 1·7–3 times as long as the tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard suborbicularor obovate, yellow, veined brown and glabrous outside; wings shorter than the keel; keel bent at right-angles in the lower third, with a long straight tapered untwisted beak, 7–12 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod subsessile, discoidal to shortly ellipsoid or even subglobose, but usually distinctly laterally compressed at least when young, 7–12 mm. long, 3·5–6 mm. across, 6–9 mm. in dorsiventral diameter, thick-walled and tardily dehiscent, usually rugose with the vein-network impressed to slightly raised, shortly and conspicuously pubescent, 1–3-seeded.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds suborbicular, up to 4 mm. across, slightly rugulose, brown.
Habitat
Brachystegia and derived secondary woodland (more rarely and atypical in wooded grassland of U1), on sandy soils, persisting on roadsides and cultivated ground; 250–1350 m.
Distribution
T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 U1
[FTEA]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Zambezian woodland
Morphology General Habit
Annual, Not climbing, Herb
[ILDIS]

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

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod subsessile, 7–12 × 3.5–6 × 6–9 mm, discoidal to shortly ellipsoid or even subglobose, but usually distinctly compressed laterally when young, thick-walled and tardily dehiscent, usually rugose with the vein-network impressed to slightly raised, shortly but conspicuously pubescent, 1–3-seeded.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds c. 4 mm across, subcircular, slightly rugulose, brown.
Morphology General Habit
Annual or short-lived perennial, with a short erect stem and many long slender trailing much-divided pilose branches up to 30–90 cm long.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets mostly 2–4.5 × 1.2–3 cm, elliptic or obovate, with those of the leading shoot sometimes up to 7 cm long and relatively narrow, appressed pilose beneath; petiole 0.8–4 cm long; stipules 1–4(8) mm long, linear-subulate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes leaf-opposed, subumbelliform, usually longer than the opposed leaf, (2.5)4–14 cm long, 2–8-flowered; bracts 1–2 mm long, linear-subulate; bracteoles inserted at the top of the pedicel, small.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx (4.5)6–8 mm long, pubescent or shortly pilose; lobes triangular-subulate, 1.7–3 times as long as the tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard obovate or subcircular, yellow, veined brown and glabrous outside; wings shorter than the keel; keel 7–12 mm long, angled in the lower third, with a long straight tapered beak.
[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]

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

  • 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