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Crotalaria spectabilis
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Family:
FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Papilionoideae)
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Citation: Crotalaria spectabilis Roth, Nov. Pl. Sp. 341. 1821; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 176. 1990; Sanjappa, Legumes Ind. 130. 1992; Subram., Fl. Thenmala Div. 96. 1995; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 165. 2005; ; Ansari, Crotalaria India 284. 2008.
Crotalaria sericea Retz., Obs. Bot. 5: 26. 1788; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 75. 1876; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 293(207). 1918; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 153. 1990, non Burm. f. 1768.
Crotalaria leschenaultii DC., Prodr. 2: 125. 1825; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 76. 1876; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 293(207). 1918; Swarup. et al., Shola For. Kerala 49. 1998; ; Ansari, Crotalaria India 270. 2008.
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Malayalam Name(s):
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Cats Bell, Rattlebox, Rattleweed, Yellow Crotalaris
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Description:
Erect biennial undershrubs up to 1.2 m tall with glabrous, furrowed branches. Leavessimple, subopposite, 5-15 cm long and variable in width, oblong-lanceolate, apex acute or subacute, mucronate, base cuneate, glabrous above, fine-silky beneath; petioles 1.6-3 mm long; stipules large, ovate-lanceolate, leafy, persistent. Flowers yellow with a purple tinge, borne in elongated 16-50 flowered terminal racemes 25-30 cm long; pedicels longer than the calyx with a large foliaceous ovate-acute bract at the base of each pedicel and a pair of minute bracts on each pedicel below the middle. Calyx 1.3 cm long, tube campanulate, upper teeth large, triangular, acute, c. 6 mm broad at the base, the lower 3 teeth smaller and less deeply cut, linear-lanceolate, acute. Petals yellow, standard broadly ovate with a strong midrib at the back. Fruit(pod) stalked, linear-oblong, 2.5-5 cm long glabrous; seeds 20-30.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
November-January
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District(s):
Palakkad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Malappuram, Wayanad, Kannur
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Deciduous forests and shola margins
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Distribution:
Paleotropics
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Yellow
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Thekkuthode, Silent Valley R. F., Thenmalai
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