Crotalaria variifolia Polhill

First published in Kew Bull. 22: 228 (1968)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Tanzania. It is a perennial 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
Perennial with several erect stems, up to 4·5–8·5 dm. tall.
Morphology Stem
Stem simple or shortly branched above, somewhat 4-angled and conspicuously ribbed, appressed puberulous.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves shortly petiolate, 1-foliolate; leaflets varying markedly in shape up the stem, the basal ones elliptic-oblong and small, the middle ones elliptic or elliptic-oblong, ± 54–75 mm. long, 17–22 mm.wide, and with the upper ones narrowly lanceolate, 60–110 mm. long, 3–8 mm. wide, glabrous above, appressed puberulous beneath; petiole ± 4–13 mm. long.
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules absent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes lax, up to 10–22 cm. long, ± 6–20-flowered; bracts linear-lanceolate, up to 8 mm. long, caducous, or the lower ones often large and foliaceous, with a stalk up to 7 mm. long and a linear-lanceolate blade up to 36–74 mm. long, rather persistent; bracteoles towards the apex of the ascending pedicel, linear, up to 5 mm. long, caducous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 10–13 mm. long, appressed puberulous; lobes narrowly triangular, nearly twice as long as the tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard sub-orbicular, yellow, turning brownish, glabrous outside; wings oblong-obovate, as long as the keel; keel abruptly rounded in the lower third, with a well-developed straight blunt untwisted beak, 17–20 mm. long, white lanate towards the upper margin.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Young pod shortly stipitate, cylindrical, glabrous; mature pod and seeds unknown.
Habitat
Upland grassland, persisting on cultivated ground; 1500–2400 m.
Distribution
T7 not known elsewhere
[FTEA]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Insufficiently known
Ecology
Africa: Afromontane grassland
Morphology General Habit
Perennial, Not climbing, Herb
[ILDIS]

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: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • 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