Crotalaria onusta Polhill

First published in Crotalaria Africa & Madagascar: 279 (1982)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is N. Zambia. It is an annual and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

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

Morphology General Habit
Erect annual, 30–40 cm tall, with densely subappressed pubescent branches.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets 2–5 × 0.7–2 cm, elliptic to elliptic-oblong, appressed pubescent beneath; petiole 1.5–3.5 cm long; stipules 2–3 mm long, linear-subulate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes 4–11 cm long, dense, c. 20–40-flowered, with the peduncle usually longer than the rhachis and often becoming bent over with age; bracts 4–6 mm long, attenuately linear-lanceolate, caducous; bracteoles on the upper part of the pedicel, 2 mm long, setaceous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 6–7 mm long, appressed pubescent; upper lobes narrowly attenuate-triangular, 2–2.5 times as long as the tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard elliptic, yellow, lined and later flushed reddish-brown, pubescent near the apex outside; wings a little shorter than the keel; keel 1.1–1.3 cm long, angular, with a narrow twisted beak.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod subsessile, 13–15 × 7–8 mm, oblong-ellipsoid to oblong-obovoid, pubescent, c. 12–16-seeded.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Mature seeds not seen.
[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: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Insufficiently known
Ecology
Africa: Zambezian anthropic landscapes.
Morphology General Habit
Annual, Not climbing, Herb
[ILDIS]

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

  • 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