Crotalaria colorata erecta
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Image 1
Habit
12 Feb 2020
Image 2
Flowers and leaves
12 Feb 2020
Image 3
Flowers and leaves
12 Feb 2020
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Full name: | Crotalaria colorata Schinz subsp. erecta (Schinz) Polhill |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | - |
| English common name(s): | - |
| Synonym(s): | Crotalaria schultzei Harms Crotalaria mollis var. erecta Schinz |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Erect perennial, up to 0.6 m in height, sericeous. Stipules linear or linear-lanceolate, 1–8 mm long, sericeous, persistent. Leaves with petioles shorter than the leaflets, 9–37 mm long; leaflets obovate or elliptic, sericeous above and below; terminal leaflet 17–42 x 7–28 mm, lateral leaflets 15–38 x 8–24 mm, obtuse, often retuse or mucronulate. Inflorescences terminal and leaf-opposed raceme, 30–210 mm long, with 4–27 flowers; pedicel 4–13 mm long; bract linear-lanceolate, 2–11 mm long, sericeous, persistent; bracteoles linear, 1–4 mm long, sericeous, persistent, inserted near the middle of the pedicel. Flowers yellow. Calyx 11–13 mm long, sericeous, lobes longer than the tube; lobes 8–10 mm long, acuminate; tube 3–4 mm long. Standard lamina sub-circular, 13–17 x 14–20 mm, obtuse, pubescent-sericeous medially; claw 3–4 mm long. Wings broadly obovate, 14–20 +6–8mm,± as long as the keel, with 7–12 rows of sculpturing; claw 3–4 mm long. Keel 15–19 mm long, rounded ± in or below the middle with a straight or slightly incurved beak, small pocket often present; claw 3–4mm long. Pistil stipe 1–2 mm long; ovary 5–6 x 2–5 mm, 9–16 ovules, densely sericeous along the upper and lower margins of the ovary; style 14–19mm long. Fruits oblong-ellipsoid, 23–31 x 9–16 mm, sericeous; stipe 1–2 mm long. Seeds sub-circular-reniform, 3–4 x 3–4 mm, smooth,yellow-brown. The distribution of C. colorata is restricted to the sandy Namibian coastal area at altitudes below 600 m above sea level (with only one locality more inland in the Namib-Naukluft Park). Crotalaria colorata subsp. colorata occurs from the Swakopmund area southwards to Walvis Bay and Sandwich Harbour; subsp. erecta is allopatric and is found from the Spencer Bay area southwards to Lüderitz. (from A Taxonomic Revision of Amphitrichae, a New Section of Crotalaria (Fabaceae), Le Roux and van Wyk, Systematic Botany (2013), 38(3): pp. 638–652, 2013) Subsp. erecta: Stem hairs slightly spreading and relatively long, ± 1 mm or more. Leaves velutinous-sericeous. Inflorescences 14–30-flowered; bracts (5)6–11 mm long. (from A Taxonomic Revision of Amphitrichae, a New Section of Crotalaria (Fabaceae), Le Roux and van Wyk, Systematic Botany (2013), 38(3): pp. 638–652, 2013) Silvery-grey, erect, perennial herb or subshrub, 0.3-0.6 m high; roots woody, yellow. Stems many, rather short, with fine, silvery hairs. Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets obovate, large, with silky hairs, occasionally with a yellowish sheen; petiole robust, up to 25 mm long. Flowers large, many, up to 30, bright yellow, with occasional maroon venation, in fairly dense, erect sprays. Flowering January to October, peaking August to September. Pods 20-30 x 10 mm, densely hairy. Seeds broadly kidney-shaped, yellow-brown. The distribution of this Namibian endemic is from Spencer Bay southwards and inland along the Orange River. A fairly common species along roadsides, the silvery grey pants are also found in the deep sand of dry riverbeds, in depressions between dunes, and in coarse sand between rocks. (from Wildflowers of the southern Namib, Mannheimer et al, 2008) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
