Crotalaria ochroleuca G. Don (1832:138)

Flores, Andréia Silva & Tozzi, Ana Maria Goulart De Azevedo, 2018, A synopsis of the genus Crotalaria (Leguminosae) in Brazil, Phytotaxa 346 (1), pp. 31-58 : 46

24. Crotalaria ochroleuca G. Don (1832:138) .

Type: —[“TROPICAL AFRICA.”] São Tomé, undated, G. Don s.n. (holotype: BM 574953 digital image!).

Shrub or subshrub, 1 m high; branches finely pubescent; internodal stem wings absent. Leaves 3-foliolate, digitate, petioles 1–4.5 cm long; leaflets usually elliptic to linear- lanceolate, 3.8–15 × 0.3–1 cm, puberulous above, glabrous beneath; stipules absent. Inflorescence a raceme, 10–50 cm long, terminal or rare axillary; peduncles 2.5–11.5 cm long. Flowers 8–12, pedicels 3–8 mm long; bracts 1–2 mm long, lanceolate, persistent; bracteoles 1 mm long, lanceolate, persistent; calyx 4–6 mm long, lobes smaller than the tube, glabrous; corolla pale yellow; the standard petal 1.6–1.9 × 0.9 cm; wing petals 1.5–1.7 cm long; keel petals 1.5–1.7 cm long, untwisted; ovary 8 mm long, short- stipitate; style curved. Legumes 3.5–5 × 1–1.5 cm, obovoid, puberulous, black at maturity, ca. 50-seeded, sessile; seeds 2 × 2 mm, seed coat orange.

Distribution and Ecology: —This is an African species introduced in Brazil and known from the states of Goiás, Paraná, São Paulo and the Federal District where it is used for green manure.

Selected material examined: — BRAZIL. Federal District: EMBRAPA CENARGEN, casa de vegetação, 15 May 2011, Furtado 18 (CEN). Goiás: Cavalcante, km 19, 18 April 2002, Pereira-Silva et al. 6431 (CEN). Paraná: Curitiba, Jardim das Américas, 6 May 1997, Cordeiro 1440 (MBM). São Paulo: Campinas, 6 March 1941, Kriegel s.n. (IAC 6202).