Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Crotalaria sagittalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Arrowhead Rattlebox from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Crotalaria sagittalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Crotalaria sagittalis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Crotalaria sagittalis
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-11-003:
Crotalaria sagittalis FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Crotalaria sagittalis
COMMON NAME:
Arrowhead Rattlebox, Common Rattlebox
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_crsa4_001_lvd
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_sagittalis_common
June
)
JK Marlow jkm210819_2948
August Greenville County SC
Flowers with typical pea-flower shape, including a large banner composed of 2 united petals, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).
)
JK Marlow jkm210819_2950
August Greenville County SC
Leaves elliptical to lance-shaped, on short petioles, a winged double-tipped stipule at the base, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).
)
JK Marlow jkm180927_5049
September Greenville County SC
Stem villous-hirsute (vs. C. purshii strigose), per Manual of the Southeastern Flora (JK Small, 1933).
)
JK Marlow jkm180927_5050
September Greenville County SC
Calyx loosely pubescent (vs. that of C. purshii strigose), per Manual of the Southeastern Flora (JK Small, 1933).
)
JK Marlow jkm180929_5152
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm180929_5155
September Greenville County SC
Specific epithet refers to conspicuous, inverted, arrowhead-shaped stipules, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm180929_5157
September Greenville County SC
Seeds are loose and rattle in the inflated pod, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm200903_7076
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm200908_7139
September Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm200908_7140
September Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm200908_7142
September Spartanburg County SC
Leaves downy, sessile, lanceolate to linear, from 1 to 3" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm200908_7145
September Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm231021_6139
October Greenville County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Crotalaria sagittalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Crotalaria sagittalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Crotalaria sagittalis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Crotalaria sagittalis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-11-003:
Crotalaria sagittalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Crotalaria sagittalis
3258
Forb
Annual/Perennial
Habitat: woodlands, woodland edges, barrens, prairies, openings, fields, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon (rare in NC Mountains) (rare in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Mostly alternate
Stipules conspicuous
FLOWER:
Summer
Yellow
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed campanulate calyx
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 stamens, monadelphous, of 2 lengths
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Black
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p219
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p130
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p168
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p075
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".