Crotalaria spectabilis

Common Name: showy rattlebox

Family: Fabaceae

Common Synonyms: none

USDA Hardiness Zone: 9a-11

Growth Habit: Annual herb

Origin: Indomalaysia

FISC Category: -

FDACS Listed Noxious Weed: No

Introduction Date: Earliest Florida specimen vouchered in 1928.

IFAS Assessment:

• North: CAUTION
• Central: CAUTION
• South: CAUTION

Description

Annual herb from to 1.5 m tall. Stems are green or purple and can be ribbed. Leaves alternate, simple, 5-15 cm long, broadest near the end, glabrous above, pubescent below. Flowers are showy, yellow, 2.5 cm across. Seed pods are cylindrical and inflated, 5 cm long.

Habitat

Mostly disturbed areas

Comments

Flowers inflorescence larger, flowers larger than C. pallida var. obovata

Control Methods

• Manual: NA
• Chemical: Foliar (Trichlopyr ester and Trichlopyr ester mixed with Fluroxypyr, 3 qts/acre, IFAS) or foliar (Glyphosate, Geosystems Research Institute).
• Biological: NA

Control Notes

NA

References

Dave's Garden. 2014. PlantFiles: Rattlebox, Crotolaria spectabilis. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2337/. Accessed on June 20, 2014.

Geosyatems Research Institute. 2014. Invasive Plant Atlas of the Midsouth: Crotolaria spectabilis. http://www.gri.msstate.edu/ipams/species.php?CName=Showy%20rattlebox. Accessed on June 24, 2013.

IFAS. 2014. Seasonal Weed Control for Northeast Florida. University of Florida. http://nfbfg.ifas.ufl.edu/documents/Seasonal_weeds_NE_FL_web.pdf. Accessed on June 24, 2014.