Crotalaria vitellina Ker-Gawler (1820:446)

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 : 56

42. Crotalaria vitellina Ker-Gawler (1820:446) . ( Fig. 8f ).

Lectotype (designated by Flores et al. 2016):—[Illustration in] Ker-Gawler (1820: pl. 447) “The drawing was taken in the hothouse at the nursery of Messrs. Colville, in the King’s Road, Chelsea, where the plant flowers freely and produces seed”, “We are informed that this plant has been only lately introduced from the Brazils”.

Shrub or subshrub up to 1.5–2 m high; branches glabrescent, puberulous to finely pubescent; internodal stem wings absent. Leaves 3-foliolate, digitate, petioles (1.5–) 3–5 cm long; leaflets elliptic, oblong or obovate, 3–7.5 × 2–3.5 cm, glabrous, pubescent or varnished above, puberulous or glabrescent beneath; stipules 1–3 mm long, linear. Inflorescence a raceme, 7–40 cm long, opposite to a leaf; peduncles 2–5 cm long. Flowers 8–20, pedicels 4–9 mm long; bracts 2–4 mm long, linear, persistent; bracteoles 1 mm long, linear, persistent; calyx 7–13 mm long, lobes twice as long as the tube, puberulous; corolla yellow, veined reddish brown; the standard petal 0.9–1.6 × 0.8–1.5 cm; wing petals 0.9–1.3 cm long; keel petals 0.8–1.3 cm long, glabrate or ciliate on the upper margin, untwisted; ovary 5 mm long, stipitate; style curved. Legumes 2–3.2 × 0.6–0.9 cm, subcylindrical or oblong- ellipsoid, puberulous or glabrescent, brown at maturity, ca. 20-seeded; seeds 4 × 4 mm, seed coat brown.

Distribution and Ecology: —Extending from Mexico into Central and South America, Crotalaria vitellina is found in restinga vegetation, on coastal hillsides and adjacent sandy dunes along most of the Brazilian coast.

Selected material examined: — BRAZIL. Bahia. Abaíra , 13º17’679”S 41º44’700”W, 21 January 2002, Flores et al. 779 ( UEC) ; Ceará: Crato, 24 June 1987, Coradin et al. 7774 (RB, CEN). Federal District: Brasília, Bacia do Rio São Bartolomeu, 13 April 1981, Heringer et al. 6779 ( IBGE). Goiás: Cachoeira de Itiquira , 13 January 1984, Heringer 18468 ( RB). Minas Gerais: Diamantina, Rio Jequití , 13 March 1970, Irwin et al. 27436 (UB, F, IAN). Paraíba: Areias, 19 July 1972, Barbosa 62 ( RB). Paraná: Adrianópolis, Barra Rio Pardo , 5 April 1976, Hatschbach 38545 ( MBM). Pernambuco: Floresta, Reserva Biológica de Serra Negra , 28 September 1996, Oliveira et al. 315 ( HUEFS). Rio de Janeiro: Estrada de Maromba , 16 July 1948, Duarte 1204 (F). Santa Catarina: Florianópolis, 16 February 1998, Flores & Rodrigues 170 ( ICN). São Paulo: Peruíbe, 14 March 1957, Gemtchujnicov s.n. ( HAS 82606 ) .

Figures

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.