Crotalaria calycina Schrank

Family Description

Trees, shrubs or herbs, sometimes twinging or climbing. Leaves althernate, sometimes simple but usually with few to many leaflets arranged trifoliately, pinnately, bipinnately or digitately; stipules usually present. Flowers zygomorphic and bisexual, or actinomorphic and osmetimes polygamous; infloresence often terminal, axillary or supra axillary. Calyx campanulate or tubular, 5-toothed, the posterior pair of teeth often ± connate. Petals mostly 5 or sometimes fewer, free or some or all connate, equal or unequal. Stamens commonly 10, rarely only 3 or 7 fetile and fully developed sometimes numerous; filaments variously untied, rarely free. Ovary monocarpellate, superior, unilocular or sometimes falsely plurilocular, ovules one or more borne on posterior suture; style simple, filiform or capitate, al. Fryit a pod (legume), valves usually dry rarely fleshy, usually dehiscent along both sutures or breaking transversely into 1-seeded segments, or indehicent. Seeds often pea- or bean-like, rarely conspicuously arrilate.
Leaves simple or with 2 to many leaflets arranged digitately or more commonly, pinnately. Flowers zygomorphic, small or large. Calyx often somewhat unequal, 4-5-toothed, the upper (posterior) 2 ± connate. Petals usually 5, the uppermost (standard) generally longer than the others, the 2 lateral petals (wings) usually parallel to each other and the 2 lowest often partially connate to form the keel to which the wings often adhere. Stamens usually 10, filaments free or more usually variously united: monadelphous with all 10 connate into a tube, or diadelphous where 9 are connate into a split tube and one (posterior) free or more rarely, where the filaments are united in two bundles of 5. Style usually upwardly curved, hooked or sometimes coiled.

Genus Description

Annual or perennial herbs or shrubs. leaves simple simple or digitately 3-foilate, leaflets entire stipules small or absent. Flower in terminal, leaf-opposed or jinterpetiolar racemes. Calyx tube companulate teeth thickennings above basal claw, keels shorter, sharply incurved and beaked, wings wrinkled or scaly in middle. Stamens mondelphous, tube spilt dorsally, filaments alternately long with basifixed anthers and short with versatile. pods oblong or eliptic ± inflated, style usually persisting and forminga short hooked point or at apex, seeds few to many.

Species description

Annual, stems ersct 30-60(-100)cm, appressed brownish hirsute. Leaves lanceolate-elliptic, 4-12 x 0.7-2cm, acuminate, bse cuneate ± sessile sparsely pilose above appressed brown pubescent beneath, stipules 4mm, subulate. Racemes lax, terminal 3-10-flowered, bracts and bracteolates lanceoles 1-1.5cm, pubescent. Calyx 2.5-3cm divided ± to base into lanceolate teeth 3-5mm broad, densely covered with long brown silky hairs. Petals yellow, standard elliptic 15 x 10mm, wings obovate oblong, 2-2.5 x 0.7cm, glabrous, black when mature.