Crotalaria 
margins of keel densely fringed with crisped white 
hairs. Pod pale brown, ovoid to globular, 3-6 mm long, 
3-5 mm wide, beaked with persistent style base, with 
short adpressed hyaline hairs. Seeds 1-2, olivaceous 
to pale brown, reniform, 2-2.8 mm long, 1.5-3.5 mm 
wide. Flowering and fruiting: Jan - July, occasionally 
at other times. Fig. 19 
Found in Asia, New Guinea and Australia as far as 
30° S, in open habitats on a variety of soils. 
Widespread but not common in the DR. Leaflets tend 
to be broader on plants from northern regions than on 
those from more inland areas. 
C. montana Lf. 
C. linifolia L.f., misapplied name 
An erect annual shrub to 1 m tall. All vegetative 
parts and calyx with adpressed or patent white, hyaline 
or slightly ferruginous simple hairs. Stipules obscure. 
Leaves simple; petioles c. 1 mm long; blades slightly 
discolorous, linear, narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate, 
18-80 mm long, 2-7(11) mm wide, L/W 4-13.5, base 
cuneate or rounded, apex obtuse to rounded. 
Inflorescence to 250 mm long, interrupted or 
occasionally flowers solitary in upper leaf axils; 
bracts filiform, 1-3 mm long. Pedicels c. 2 mm 
long; bracteoles similar to bracts. Calyx 5.5-7 mm 
long; tube c. 2 mm long; upper 2 lobes almost 
completely connate, lower 3 lobes narrowly triangular. 
Corolla yellow; standard 4-6 mm long, with crisped 
hairs on claw; margins of keel sparsely fringed with 
crisped white hairs. Pod dark grey-brown, 5.5-11 mm 
long, 4-5 mm wide, glabrous. Seeds 8-12, pale yellow, 
brown or olivaceous, cordiform to reniform, 1.5-2.5 
mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide. Flowering: Jan - May; 
fruiting: Jan - July. Fig. 19 
Occurs in India, SE Asia and in tropical and 
subtropical Australia in open habitats on a variety of 
soils. Widespread in the DR. 
C. novae-hollandiae DC. 
An erect perennial shrub to 1 m tall, branchlets 
stout, striate. All vegetative parts (except upper leaf 
surface) and calyx pilose to tomentose with hyaline 
to ferruginous short simple hairs. Stipules persistent, 
often patent or recurved, subulate, 1-4 mm long. 
Leaves 1-foliolate; rachis 6-26 mm long; petiolule 1- 
4 mm long; blades discolorous, obovate, narrowly 
lanceolate, narrowly elliptic or ovate, 31-110 mm 
long, 11-55 mm wide, L/W 1.6-6.6, base cuneate, 
attenuate or rounded, apex rounded to emarginate. 
Inflorescence crowded, to 300 mm long; bracts patent, 
filiform, 2-4 mm long. Calyx 4-9 mm long, lobes 
triangular, c. equal in length to tube. Corolla yellow; 
standard 8-17 mm long, glabrous on back; keel twisted 
FABACEAE 61 
at apex, margin of keel glabrate. Pod dark or pale 
brown, or stramineous, obovoid, 12-30 mm long, 7- 
10 mm wide, glabrous. Seeds 6-10, pale yellow to 
pale brown, cordiform, 3.5-6 mm long, 3-5 mm wide. 
Flowering and fruiting: mostly Jan - July. Fig. 19 
An Australian endemic widespread in the 
monsoonal and semiarid tropics. Occurs on a variety 
of soils in open habitats but frequently on disturbed 
areas, skeletal soils or on alluvium. Rare in the DR 
but common to the south. Two subspecies are known. 
_ Crotalaria novae-hollandiae subsp. novae-hollandiae 
has leaves with narrow, tapering bases while subsp. 
lasiophylla has leaves with cordate or truncate bases. 
Only the former subspecies is known from the DR. 
This description does not include C. crassipes Hook. 
which we regard as a separate species. 
*C. pallida Aiton 
An erect annual herb to 1 m tall. All vegetative 
parts and calyx (except leaf upper surface) with sparse 
adpressed white short hairs. Stipules persistent, 
minute. Leaves digitately 3-foliolate; rachis 32-60 
mm long; leaflets discolorous, elliptic or obovate, 
40-85 mm long, 23-50 mm wide, L/W 1.6-2, upper 
surface vesicular glandular, base attenuate, apex 
emarginate; basal leaflets subequal to terminals. 
Inflorescence to 350 mm long, flowers reflexed; 
bracts caducous, filiform, 3-4 mm long. Pedicels c. 
5 mm long; bracteoles caducous. Calyx c. 5 mm long; 
lobes as long as tube. Corolla pale yellow with red to 
brown veins; standard 8-12 mm long; margins of keel 
fringed with crisped white hairs. Pod stramineous, c. 
36 mm long, c. 7 mm wide, sparsely hairy to glaucous. 
Seeds c. 50, pale yellow, reniform, c. 3.2 mm long, 
2.5 mm wide. Flowering: Dec - May; fruiting: May. 
Fig. 19 
Pantropical and introduced to Australia (NT and 
Qld). In the NT known mainly from disturbed places 
in the DR. 
C. quinquefolia L. 
An erect annual herb to 1 m tall with striate 
stems. Vegetative parts (except leaf upper surface) 
with adpressed white short hairs. Stipules persistent, 
narrowly lanceolate, 3-5 mm long. Leaves digitately 
5-foliolate; rachis 15-65 mm long; leaflets 
discolorous, unequal, linear or very narrowly 
elliptic, 25-95 mm long, 3-8 mm wide, L/W 6-16, 
upper surface vesicular glandular, base attenuate, 
apex: rounded to acute or emarginate. Inflorescence 
to 280 mm long; bracts narrowly lanceolate, 5-8 mm 
long. Pedicels 6-14 mm long; bracteoles on lower 
part of pedicel. Calyx 9-10 mm long, glabrous; 
lobes triangular, as long as tube. Corolla yellow, 
