Crotalaria sagittalis

Family:FABACEAE
Species:Crotalaria sagittalis L.
Common Name:Arrow Head Rattlebox; Common Rattlebox
Habitat:**
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:**
Plant Notes:Arrow Head Rattlebox is a native herbaceous perennial in the Bean family (Fabaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Arrow Head Rattlebox occurs in dry to mesic hardwood or pine woodlands, in prairies, and on roadsides. It is as annual or short-lived perennial with a tap root. The stems are erect, branched above the middle, green or reddish brown in color, and pubescent with stiff, irregularly spreading or ascending hairs 1–2 mm long. Leaves are alternate, unifoliate, subsessile, elliptic to lanceolate in outline, pubescent, with entire margins. The stipules of the upper leaves are well developed, and inversely sagittate. They are tapering-decurrent with ascending lobes, and are half the length of the internode or more. Flowers are produced in erect, 2-5 flowered terminal or axillary racemes. The flowers are papilionaceous and yellow in color. The fruit is an inflated oblong-cylindrical legume. The fruit turns black when mature and the seed become detached and free within the fruit. When shaken the fruit “rattles”.—A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Native
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyFABACEAE - Pea/Bean family
Genus Crotalaria
Species Crotalaria sagittalis L. - Arrow Head Rattlebox; Common Rattlebox

Citation

Citation Crotalaria sagittalis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 714. 1753.
Basionym: **
Type: Without data, Kalm s.n. (lectotype: LINN 895.6). Lectotypified by Windler in Taxon 21 : 545. 1972.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Crotalaria sagittalis var. oblonga    

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Choctaw, Clay, Coffee, Colbert, Conecuh, Coosa, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dale, Dallas, DeKalb, Escambia, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Lowndes, Marengo, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington, Wilcox

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AUA, JSU, TROY, UNA, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1896 - 2023

Barcode / Accession No.
County
Coll. Date
Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
AUA000011242 Autauga 29 Jul 1989 DIAMOND, JR., ALVIN R.
6175
AUA
CROTALARIA SAGITTALIS L.
TROY000048661 Autauga 20 Jul 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
1001
TROY
Crotalaria sagittalis Linnaeus
TROY000048352 Autauga 31 Jul 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
1079
TROY
Crotalaria sagittalis Linnaeus
AUA000042722 Baldwin 7 Aug 1925 WOLF, WOLFGANG
AUA
CROTALARIA SAGITTALIS L.
UNA00015948 Baldwin 06 Jun 1958 Edwards, Jackie
3
UNA
Crotalaria sagittalis L.
AUA000011247 Bibb 24 Jun 1976 SESSLER, ANN H.
138
AUA
CROTALARIA SAGITTALIS L.
AUA000011249 Bibb 8 Jul 1976 SESSLER, ANN H.
189
AUA
CROTALARIA SAGITTALIS L.
AUA000011246 Bibb 10 Aug 1976 SESSLER, ANN H.
333
AUA
CROTALARIA SAGITTALIS L.
AUA000011248 Bibb 28 Jun 1979 BECKETT, SCOTT W.
195
AUA
CROTALARIA SAGITTALIS L.
JSU130789 Bibb 22 Jul 1982 Whetstone, R. David
11692
JSU
Crotalaria sagittalis Linnaeus
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