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Crotalaria eremaea

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Crotalaria eremaea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Crotalaria
Species:
C. eremaea
Binomial name
Crotalaria eremaea
Synonyms[1]

Crotalaria dissitiflora Benth.

Crotalaria eremaea, also known as the bluebush pea or loose-flowered rattlepod, is a species of legume native to Australia and occurring in all mainland states and territories except for Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. [2][3]

Description

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Crotalaria eremaea grows as a perennial herb or softwooded shrub up to 2m tall.[2][3][4] Stems are glabrous, tomentose or pubescent. Leaves are 1- or 3-foliate, with a larger terminal leaflet 10-80 mm long, and two smaller lateral leaflets less than 10 mm long or absent. Leaflets are pubescent and narrow-elliptic, oblong, or ovate, and are borne on petioles 18-45 mm long. [2][3][4]

Flowers are borne on a terminal raceme 6-40 cm long, with 15-30 flowers on each. Calyx is pubescent and around 5 mm long. Corolla is bright yellow and 10-20 mm long. Pods are narrow-obovate, 15-30 mm long, and contain yellow seeds around 3.5 mm long. [2][3]

Crotalaria eremaea grows in sandy soils across most of the inland of Australia. [2][5]

Taxonomy

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Crotalaria eremaea was first described by Ferdinand von Mueller from a specimen collected by Augustus Charles Gregory near 'Cooper's River and its tributaries'.[6]

Two subspecies are currently accepted:

References

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  1. ^ "Australian Plant Name Index". Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Crotalaria eremaea". PlantNet. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Fact sheet for Crotalaria eremaea". Electronic Flora of South Australia. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  4. ^ a b Falster, D.; Gallagher, R.; et al. (2021). AusTraits, a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora. Scientific Data. 8: 254. doi:10.1038/s41597-021-01006-6.
  5. ^ a b "Crotalaria eremaea: Bluebush Pea". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  6. ^ Mueller, Ferdinand von (1859). "Enumeration of plants collected by A.C. Gregory, esq., along and near Cooper's River and its tributaries in sub-central Australia". New South Wales - Parliamentary Papers - Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, 1858-9. 2.