Crotalaria rufipila Bentham (1859:28)

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 : 48-50

30. Crotalaria rufipila Bentham (1859:28) . ( Figs. 5a , 8b ).

Lectotype (designated by Flores et al. 2016):— BRAZIL. “In saxosis Serra da Piedade ”, undated, L. Riedel 586 [specimen on the right side of sheet] (K000500557 digital image!).

Shrub or subshrub, 1–2 m high; branches pubescent, puberulous or sericeous, rare glabrescent; internodal stem wings absent. Leaves 3-foliolate, digitate, petioles 4–8 mm long; leaflets oblanceolate or oblong- elliptic, 1.5–5.6 × 0.6–1.8 cm, sericeous on both surfaces; stipules 1 mm long, linear. Inflorescence a raceme, 2–9 cm long, terminal; peduncles 0.7–1.5 cm long. Flowers 2–10, pedicels 7–8 mm long; bracts 2–3 mm long, linear, persistent; bracteoles 1 mm long, linear, persistent; calyx 8–11 mm long, lobes two to three times as long as the tube, pubescent; corolla yellow; the standard petal 1.1–1.3 × 1–1.3 cm; wing petals 1.1–1.3 cm long; keel petals 1–1.1 cm long, glabrate or ciliate on the upper margin, untwisted; ovary 3–4 mm long, stipitate; style curved. Legumes 2–2.5 × 0.7–0.8 cm, oblong, pubescent, black or brown at maturity, ca. 10-seeded; seeds 4–5 × 4 mm, seed coat brown.

Distribution and Ecology: — Crotalaria rufipila is restricted to the campo rupestre vegetation in the Serra do Cipó and Serra da Piedade mountains in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Selected material examined: — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Belo Horizonte, Serra da Piedade, 16 January1971, Irwin et al. 30481 (UB).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Habit of (a) Crotalaria rufipila Benth. (Flores & Rodrigues 1010, UEC), (b) Crotalaria subdecurrens Mart. ex Benth. (Flores et al. 861, UEC), (c) Crotalaria unifoliolata Benth. (Flores et al. 814, UEC), (d) Crotalaria velutina Benth. (Flores & Tozzi 422, UEC). Scale bar: 5 cm.

FIGURE 8. Habit of (a) Crotalaria paulina Schrank, (b) Crotalaria rufipila Benth., (c) Crotalaria subdecurrens Mart. ex Benth., (d) Crotalaria tweediana Benth., (e) Crotalaria unifoliolata Benth., (f) Crotalaria vitellina Ker-Gawler. Photos by A.S. Flores.