- Family:
- Fabaceae Lindl.
- Genus:
- Crotalaria L.
Crotalaria cephalotes Steud. ex A.Rich.

[FZ]
Leguminosae, various authors. Flora Zambesiaca 3:7. 2003
- Morphology General Habit
- Erect annual 10–70(100) cm tall, developing numerous curved-ascending branches, particularly from near the base, densely covered with long mostly spreading hairs.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves almost all 3-foliolate, uppermost sometimes 1-foliolate, crowded and larger just below the inflorescences; leaflets mostly 15–30 × 4–6 mm, upper ones up to 50 × 8 mm, linear-oblanceolate to oblong-oblanceolate, rounded at the apex, long-cuneate to the base, pilose on both surfaces; petioles mostly 5–15 mm long, uppermost up to 2.5 cm, narrowly winged; stipules 0.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers in dense subsessile heads or racemes; bracts 1–2 mm long, setaceous; pedicel recurved near apex, without bracteoles.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx 3–4 mm long, densely hairy; lobes narrowly triangular, 2–3 times as long as the tube.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Standard obovate, pale yellow, marked red at the base inside, veined reddish and medially pubescent outside; wings nearly as long as the keel; keel 4–5.5 mm long, angular, with a narrow twisted beak.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Pod sessile, (4)5–6 × 3–5 mm, ovoid-globose to bluntly ellipsoid, densely pilose outside, hairy inside along upper suture behind the placenta, 2-seeded.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds 2–2.5 mm long, oblique-cordiform, smooth.
[FWTA]
Papilionaceae, Hutchinson and Dalziel. Flora of West Tropical Africa 1:2. 1958
- Morphology General Habit
- A slightly woody herb, 6–18 in. high, often unbranched
- Morphology Leaves
- A tuft of leaves around the raceme
- Morphology General Indumentum
- Densely silky
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers small, yellow
- Ecology
- In rocky places.
[ILDIS]
International Legume Database and Information Service
- Conservation
- Not Threatened
- Ecology
- Africa: Zambezian grassland, Lake Victoria regional transition zone; grasslands, Guinea-Congolia/Sudania regional transition zone; grasslands., Somalia-Masai grasslands, Sudanian grasslands
- Morphology General Habit
- Annual, Not climbing, Herb
[FTEA]
Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971
- Morphology General Habit
- Erect annual, up to 3–7(–10) dm. tall, developing numerous curved-ascending branches particularly from near the base.
- Morphology Stem
- Stem densely hirsute with mostly spreading tawny hairs.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets linear-oblanceolate to oblanceolate-oblong, mostly up to 15–30 mm. long and 4–6 mm. wide, but the upper ones opposing and just below the inflorescences often larger, up to 50 mm. long and 8 mm. wide, rounded at the apex, long-cuneate, pilose on both surfaces with generally appressed hairs; petiole ± 6–15 mm. long, the uppermost up to 25 mm. long.
- Morphology Leaves Stipules
- Stipules absent.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescences sessile dense racemes or heads, crowded at the top of the shoots surrounded by the larger spreading leaves, many-flowered; bracts filiform, 1–2 mm. long; bracteoles obscure.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx 3–4 mm. long, with the tube protracted on the lower side, densely hairy; upper lobes subulate-triangular, ± twice as long as the tube.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Standard obovate-orbicular, pale yellow, marked red at the base inside, veined reddish and pubescent outside; wings nearly as long as the keel; keel bent at right-angles in the lower third, with a narrow twisted beak, 4–5·5 mm. long.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Pod sessile, subglobose to ellipsoid, 5–6 mm. long, densely pilose, 2-seeded.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds oblique-cordiform, ± 2–2·5 mm. long, without a prominent aril, smooth, brown.
- Figures
- Fig. 135, p. 984.
- Habitat
- Short open grassland and Brachystegia woodland, rarely extending into deciduous bushland, also a frequent weed of cultivated ground; 400–2000 m.
- Distribution
- widespread in tropical Africa from Ghana to Ethiopia and south to Angola and the Transvaal K3 K4 K5 K6 T1 T2 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 U1 U2 U3
Native to:
Angola, Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Crotalaria cephalotes Steud. ex A.Rich. appears in other Kew resources:
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status | Has image? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schimper [695], Ethiopia | K000412733 | Yes | |||
Schimper [695], Ethiopia | K000412734 | Yes | |||
Ethiopia | K000412735 | Yes | |||
Gossweiler, J. [3379], Angola | K001294186 | No | |||
Gossweiler, J. [1338], Angola | K001294187 | No | |||
s.coll. [Cat. no. 5373] | K001120710 | Yes |
First published in Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 156 (1847)
Accepted by
- Boudet, G., Lebrun, J.P. & Demange, R. (1986). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Mali: 1-465. Etudes d'Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux.
- Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
- Lock, J.M. (1989). Legumes of Africa a check-list: 1-619. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Pope, G.V., Polhill, R.N. & Martins, E.S. (eds.) (2003). Flora Zambesiaca 3(7): 1-274. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Literature
Flora of West Tropical Africa
- Bak. f. in J. Linn. Soc. 42: 276
- Wilczek in Fl. Congo Belge 4: 200.
- —F.T.A. 2: 23
Kew Backbone Distributions
- Lock, J.M. (1989). Legumes of Africa a check-list: 1-619. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Pope, G.V., Polhill, R.N. & Martins, E.S. (eds.) (2003). Flora Zambesiaca 3(7): 1-274. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- A. Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 156 (1847).
- Bak. f. in Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Botany 42: 276 (1914).
- Bak. in Flora of Tropical Africa 2: 23 (1871).
- Brenan in Mem. N.Y. Bot. Gard. 8: 245 (1953).
- F. W. Andr., The Flowering Plants of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan 2: 184 (1952).
- Harms in A. Engler & O. Drude, Die Vegetation Der Erde, IX, Pflanzenwelt Afrikas 3 (1): 550 (1915).
- Hepper in Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 1: 549 (1958).
- Oliv. in Trans. Linn. Soc. 29: 51 (1872).
- Taub. in Die Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas und der Nachbargebiete, Theile C: 205 (1895).
- Torre in Consp. Fl. Angol. 3: 34 (1962).
- Verdoorn in Bothalia 2: 384 (1928).
- Wilczek in Flore du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi, 4: 200 (1953).
International Legume Database and Information Service
- Polhill, R. M. (1982). A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam 389pp Crotalaria in Africa & Madagasca
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Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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Flora of West Tropical Africa
Flora of West Tropical Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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International Legume Database and Information Service
International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0