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smooth rattlebox
Scientific Name: Crotalaria pallida var. obovata
Family: Fabaceae
Category: Dicot
Growth: Subshrub, Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
Other Names:
Crotalaria pallida: Smooth Rattlebox
Crotalaria pallida, commonly known as smooth rattlebox, is a plant with distinctive yellow flowers and a pea-pod fruit that rattles when ripe.
Considerations for Pets
- The plant produces pea-pod fruits that rattle when ripe, potentially attracting attention from pets.
Taxonomy and Nomenclature
- Scientific Name: Crotalaria pallida
- Common Names: Smooth Rattlebox, Salts Rattlebox, Smooth Crotalaria, Smooth Rattlepod, Striped Crotalaria
- Family: Fabaceae (Pea Family)
- Subfamily: Faboideae
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Taxonomic Rank: Species
- Synonyms: Crotalaria pallida Aiton var. obovata (G. Don) Polhill, Crotalaria mucronata, Crotalaria striata
Distribution and Habitat
- Native to tropical Africa and Central and Tropical America.
- Now naturalized throughout the tropics and considered pantropical.
Ecological Role
- Invasive species: Considered invasive in some regions, including Southeast Florida and at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
Morphological Characteristics
- Erect, well-branched, sometimes robust perennial herb.
- Stems become more or less woody.
- Can grow up to 2 meters tall.
- Leaves generally smooth (glabrous) above and densely hairy (pubescent) below.
- Leaflets occur in groups of three.
- Produces a large, dense spike of flowers.
Phytochemistry
- The seeds contain lectins, with a purified lectin from Crotalaria pallida (CPL) seeds showing an apparent molecular mass of 30 kDa.
Additional Information
- Listed as Not Native and FACU (NWPL) in some areas.
- View specimen details available in the USF Herbarium Specimen.
- One subspecies of Crotalaria pallida is recognized.