Crotalaria pallida Aiton

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Equisetopsida > Fabales > Fabaceae > Crotalaria > C. pallida

Description: Erect undershrubs, up to 1.6 cm tall; branches puberulous. Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets subequal, obovate or elliptic-ovate, apex obtuse or acute, base cuneate, membranous, glaucous below; petiole 3-7 cm long; stipules setaceous, deciduous. Flowers in terminal many-flowered racemes, up to 25 cm long; pedicels 3-4 mm long; bracts to 3 mm long, subulate. Calyx 5-7 mm long, upper 2-lobes united, other lobes lanceolate, adpressed tomentose. Petals yellow with prominent reddish veins; standard, broadly elliptic; keels curved and beaked. Stamens 10, monoadelphous. Style abruptly incurved at the base; stigma oblique. Pods oblong-cylindrical; seeds 18-30, brown.

Flowering and Fruiting: September - January

Uses: Ants feed on the nectar. Cattle stay away from the plant. Children play with the fruits as a rattle.

Cultivation: Wild

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org