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Crotalaria alata
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Family:
FABACEAE/LEGUMINOSAE (Subfam.: Papilionoideae)
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Citation: Crotalaria alata Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don, Prodr. 241. 1825; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 69. 1876; ; Sanjappa, Legumes Ind. 116. 1992; Ansari, Crotalaria India 61. 2008.
Crotalaria bidiei Gamble, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1917: 27. 1917 & Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 291(206). 1918; Ramach. & V.J. Nair, Fl. Cannanore Dist. 129. 1988; Sanjappa, Legumes Ind. 117. 1992.
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Malayalam Name(s):
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Erect or spreading subshrubs up to 60 cm high; stems terete, pilose; hairs brown, up to 0.5 mm long; internodes 2-7 cm long. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-7 x 1.3-4.5 cm, obovate, elliptic, elliptic-lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acute-cuneate, rounded or slightly oblique at base, acute, obtuse or rarely slightly retuse and mucronate at apex, adpressed pilose on both surfaces, paler beneath; lateral veins 4-5 pairs; stipular wings 3-7 mm broad, distinctly veined, gradually narrowing downwards almost covering the internode, auricles blunt or pointed, lobes 1-5 mm long, straight or curved; petioles 1-2 mm long, pilose. Racemes leaf-opposed, originating from just below the node or above the middle half of the internode, 2.5-12.5 (-26) cm long, pubescent, with numerous opposite or alternate sterile bracts below and at the apex. Flowers 1-4, 1-2 x 0.8-1.0 cm; pedicels 3-6 mm long, pubescent; bracts ovate, cordate or ovate-lanceolate, 3-6 x 1.5-2.5 mm, acuminate at apex, pubescent; bracteoles 2, beneath the calyx, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 3-6 x 1.0-1.5 mm, acuminate at apex, pubescent. Calyx generally 5 (-4) cleft, pubescent, margins ciliate, tube 3.0-4.5 mm long, 2-lipped, upper lip 2-lobed, lobes ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, acute or acuminate at apex, divided to about half of its length; lower lip 3-lobed, lobes linear-lanceolate, acuminate at apex, divided to more than of its length. Petals yellow, intruded; vexillum elliptic-obovate or orbicular, 6.5-10.0 x 7-10 mm, pubescent outside at the apex, distinctly veined, claw 1.5-2.5 mm long; wing petals obovate-oblong, 7.0-11.5 x 4.0-5.5 mm, claw 1.5-2.0 mm long; keel petals angular, 7-11 x 6-7 mm, beak moderate-sized, straight, twisted, claw 1.0-1.5 mm long. Staminal sheath ca 3 mm long; filaments flattened; longer anthers oblong or linear-oblong, 1.0-2.5 mm long and shorter anthers ovoid, 0.2-1.0 mm long. Ovary oblong, 5-7 x ca 1 mm, glabrous, sessile or subsessile; style 6-9 mm long; stigma flat or obtuse. Pods oblong or obovate-oblong, 3-4 x 0.8-1.0 cm, beaked, glabrous, brown or black, stalk ca 5 mm long; seeds 24-33, reniform, 2.0-2.5 x ca 2 mm, brown, smooth, with a prominent aril exceeding the hilar sinus.
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Habit:
Shrub
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Flowering & Fruiting:
April-August
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District(s):
Kannur
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Open areas in evergreen forests
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Distribution:
Southern Western Ghats
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Yellow
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
Southern Western Ghats
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IUCN status:
Endangered (EN)
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Chandanathode
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