Crotalaria
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Fabaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Genus Description - Erect herbs or shrubs. Leaves imparipinnate or unifoliolate; leaflets 3-7, opposite; stipules minute to large, persistent; wanting. Flowers small to medium-sized, in terminal or axillary racemes, the bracts minute, deciduous or persistent, paired bracteoles at the base of the calyx tube; calyx bell-shaped, with 5 elongate, unequal sepals; corolla yellow, blue, or pinkish, the standard rounded to kidney-shaped, notched at apex, sometimes with cordate base, the wings and keel of similar length, the keel acute at apex; stamens 10, monadelphous; ovary sessile, pubescent, with many ovules, the style curved, bearded, the stigma capitate. Legume cylindrical or nearly so, linear to oblong, dehiscent; seeds small, ellipsoid.
Distribution and Ecology - A genus of about 550 species, most of which are from Africa.