Fabaceae
Crotalaria

Crotalaria modesta Polhill

First published in Crotalaria Africa & Madagascar: 129 (1982)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. DR Congo to N. Zambia. It is an annual or subshrub and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Zambezian grassland
Morphology General Habit
Annual, Not climbing, Herb
[ILDIS]

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

Morphology General Habit
Procumbent or ascending rather bushy annual or short-lived perennial; branches slender, pubescent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets 1–2.8 × 0.4–1 cm, oblanceolate to elliptic-obovate, thinly appressed pubescent above, more densely so beneath; petioles 3–10 mm long; stipules 1–2 mm long, linear to linear-lanceolate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes laxly 2–6-flowered, with slender rhachis; bracts 1–2 mm long, filiform to linear-lanceolate; bracteoles on the pedicel, minute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 3.5–5 mm long, appressed pubescent; lobes narrow, more than twice as long as the tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Standard broadly elliptic, pale yellow, with a few hairs apically; wings distinctly shorter than the keel; keel 4–5 mm long, strongly rounded, crested behind the small circumflexed beak.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod 1.2–1.3 cm long, shortly stipitate, subcylindrical, slightly broadened upwards, appressed pubescent, 8–12-seeded.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 2.5–3 mm long, oblique-cordiform, smooth, brownish or ochre.
[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]

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 Backbone Distributions

    • 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

  • 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