Crotalaria holosericea Nees & Martius

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 : 39

12. Crotalaria holosericea Nees & Martius in Wied-Neuwied et al. (1824:26). ( Fig. 3a , 6e ).

Lectotype (designated by Flores et al. 2016):— BRAZIL. “ Circa Barra da Vareda ”, undated, M. Wied -Neuwied s.n. (BR 6584061 digital image!)

Shrub or subshrub 0.5–1.8 m high; branches densely velvety to sericeous; internodal stem wings absent. Leaves 3-foliolate, digitate, petioles 10–30 mm long; leaflets elliptic or widely elliptic, 2.2–6.5 × 2–3.5 cm, sericeous or velvety on both surfaces; stipules 2–4 mm long, linear- lanceolate. Inflorescence a raceme, 7–30 cm long, opposite to a leaf, usually lax; peduncles 1–3cm long. Flowers 10–25, pedicels 4–5 mm long; bracts 3–5 mm long, linearlanceolate, persistent; bracteoles 1 mm long, linear, persistent; calyx 9–12 mm long, lobes twice times as long as the tube, sericeous; corolla pale yellow, usually veined reddish brown; the standard petal 1.1–1.6 × 0.9–1.5 cm; wing petals 1.1–1.6 cm long; keel petals 1.1–1.6 cm long, glabrate or ciliate on the upper margin, untwisted; ovary 4–5 mm long, stipitate; style curved. Legumes 2–2.5 × 0.7–0.9 cm, oblong clavate, velvety or sericeous, brown at maturity, ca. 20-seeded; seeds 4–5 × 4 mm, seed coat brown.

Distribution and Ecology: — Crotalaria holosericea is widely distributed in Northeastern Brazil in cerrado and caatinga vegetation and some coastal sites. This species is found along the border of gallery forests as well as in disturbed areas.

Selected material examined: — BRAZIL. Alagoas: Água Branca, Serra do Caraman, 02 April 1963, Monteiro Neto 137 ( RB). Bahia: Alagoinhas , Feira de Santana para Alagoinhas , 27 May 1991, Cotias s.n. ( HUEFS 15437 ). Ceará: Ubajara, planalto da Ibiapaba, 08 July 1993, Araújo s.n. ( UEC 96414 ). Pernambuco: Cupira, Cupira to Penéias, 25 September 1976, Davis & Andrade - Lima 61122 ( UB) ; Petrolina , 18 April 1971, Heringer et al. 113 ( UB) .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Habit of (a) Crotalaria holosericea Nees & Mart. (Flores et al. 757, UEC), (b) Crotalaria irwinii Windler & S.G. Skinner (Irwin et al. 21657, UB), (c) Crotalaria laeta Mart. ex Benth. (Flores et al. 793, UEC), (d) Crotalaria longirostrata Hooker & Arn. (Carvalho 34, VIC). Scale bar: 5 cm.

FIGURE 6. Habit of (a) Crotalaria breviflora DC., (b) Crotalaria flavicoma Benth., (c) Crotalaria grandiflora Benth., (d) Crotalaria harleyi Windler & S.G. Skinner, (e) Crotalaria holosericea Nees & Mart. (f) Crotalaria laeta Mart. ex Benth. Photos by A.S. Flores.