Crotalaria otoptera Bentham (1839:429)

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 : 46-47

25. Crotalaria otoptera Bentham (1839:429) . ( Figs. 4d , 7f ).

Type:— BRAZIL. Goiás: Oliveira and Caldas Novas, Pohl 2712 (holotype: K 500562 digital image!; isotypes: BR 8423382 digital image!, NY 6692 digital image!, W 0057047 digital image!) .

Subshrub or shrub 1.5–3 m high; branches densely canescent or pubescent; internodal stem wings 0.9–2.5 × 1–2 cm, apex widely triangular, acuminate or falcate. Leaves simple, blades obovate or spatulate, 3.8–18 × 2–9 cm, base attenuate, canescent or pubescent above and beneath; stipules 1–2 cm long, linear or triangular. Inflorescence a raceme, 8–26 cm long, terminal or opposite to a leaf; peduncles 1–2 cm long. Flowers 20–45, pedicels 7–11 mm long; bracts 8–11 × 1–2 mm, linear- lanceolate, persistent; bracteoles 7–8 × 1–2 mm, linear- lanceolate, persistent; calyx 16–20 mm long, deeply divided into 2 lips, canescent or pubescent; corolla yellow; the standard petal 1.2–1.8 × 1.1–1.7 cm; wing petals 1.5–1.8 cm long; keel petals 1.8–2 cm long, twisted; ovary 5 mm long, subsessile; style geniculate. Legumes 3–3.8 × 1–2 cm, oblong or obovate, glabrous, black at the maturity, ca 30-seeded; seeds 3.5–4 × 2.5–3 mm, seed coat brown.

Distribution and Ecology: — Crotalaria otoptera has been found in the states of São Paulo, Goiás and Minas Gerais in Brazil, in open areas and gallery forests in cerrado vegetation.

Note: — C. otoptera is distinguished from others Brazilian Crotalaria species by the concomitant presence of the internodal stem wings and the linear or triangular stipules.

Selected specimens studied: — BRAZIL. Goiás: Aragarças , May 1958, Lima s.n. (RB 80000) ; Caldas Novas, Rodovia GO 139, 20 May 2002, Flores & Schütz-Rodrigues 1005. Minas Gerais: Ituiutaba, 18 February 1947, Macedo 969 ( SP). São Paulo: Buritizal, April 1981, Leitão Filho 12484 ( UEC) .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Habit of (a) Crotalaria martiana subsp. martiana Benth. (Irwin et al. 22820, UEC), (b) Crotalaria martiana subsp. mohlenbrockii (Windler & S.G. Skinner) Planchuelo (Flores et al. 880, UEC), (c) Crotalaria nitens Kunth (Cid & Lima 3267, MG), (d) Crotalaria otoptera Benth. (Flores & Rodrigues 1005, UEC). Scale bar: 5 cm.

FIGURE 7. Habit of (a) Crotalaria martiana subsp. martiana DC., (b) Crotalaria martiana subsp. mohlenbrockii (Windler & S.G. Skinner) Planchuelo, (c) Crotalaria maypurensis Kunth, (d) Crotalaria micans Link, (e) Crotalaria miottoae A.S. Flores & A.M.G. Azevedo, (f) Crotalaria otoptera Benth. Photos by A.S. Flores.