Crotalaria brachycarpa Bentham (1859:29)

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 : 35

3. Crotalaria brachycarpa Bentham (1859:29) . ( Fig. 1a )

Type: — BRAZIL. Bahia: “habitat ad Villa da Barra in Serra Jacobina ,” 1837, J.S. Blanchet 2678 (holotype: K000187660 digital image!; isotype: F!) .

Subshrub up to 50 cm high; branches densely villous or velutinous; internodal stem wings absent. Leaves 3-foliolate, digitate, petioles 0.8–2.5 cm long, usually shorter than the terminal leaflet; leaflets obovates, 1.5–3 × 1–1.8 cm, pubescent or sericeous on both surfaces; stipules 2–4 mm long, linear. Inflorescence a raceme, 2–4.5 cm long, opposite to a leaf; peduncles 0.8—1.5 cm long. Flowers 3–7, pedicels 2–4 mm long; bracts 2–3 mm long, linear- lanceolate, persistent; bracteoles 1 mm long, linear, caduceus; calyx 6–8 mm long, lobes two to three times as long as the tube, pubescent; corolla pale yellow; the standard petal 7–8 × 9–10 mm; wing petals 7–9 mm long, as long as or longer than the keel; keel petals 6–8 mm long, glabrate or ciliate on the upper margin, untwisted; ovary 3–4 mm long, stipitate; style curved. Legumes 1.2–1.5 × 0.7–0.8 cm, oblong, puberulous, stipitate, brown at maturity; seeds not seen.

Distribution and Ecology: — Crotalaria brachycarpa is known only from the two collecting events cited here, one of which is the holotype, from caatinga vegetation in Bahia. Further, it may be considered extinct because the taxon has not been collected since 1907.

Note: —This species is characterized by its obovates leaflets, densely villous or velutinous branches and calyx 6–8 mm long. Crotalaria brachycarpa is mostly similar to C. harleyi Windler & Skinner (1982:198) , differing from it by its smaller flower (6–9 mm vs 12–16 mm in C. harleyi ), puberulous fruits, and obovates leaflets.

The homonym C. brachycarpa (Benth.) Burtt Davy ex Verdoorn (1928: 412) from South Africa has been renamed Crotalaria magaliesbergensis A.S. Flores & Sch.Rodr. (2011:59).

Specimen studied: — BRAZIL. Bahia: Remanso, “caatinga bei Remanso,” January 1907, Ule 7200 (HBG, L).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habit of (a) Crotalaria brachycarpa Benth. (Ule 7200, HBG), (b) Crotalaria bahiaensis Windler & S.G. Skinner (Harley et al. 19156, SPF), (c) Crotalaria claussenii Benth. (Freitas & Gajardo 524, UEC), (d) Crotalaria flavicoma Benth. (Flores et al. 815, UEC). Scale bar: 5 cm.