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Crotalaria spectabilis

Species category

Agricultural

Common name

showy rattlebox, rattlebox, showy crotalaria

Diagnostic characters

Planting unit

True seedTrue seed:
A mature fertilized ovule consisting of an embryo, with or without and external food reserve (e.g., endosperm) enclosed by the testa.

Shape

OvalOval:
Broadly elliptic.
 to mitten shaped, with a divergent radicleRadicle:
The rudimentary root of the embryo, developing into the primary root after emergence from the seed coat.

Size

  • Length 4–4.5 mm
  • Width 3.5–4 mm
  • Thickness 1.5–1.7 mm

Color

Black with the hilumHilum:
The scar on the seed coat at the place of its detachment from the seed stalk (funiculus).
 surrounded by a band of whitish, waxy tissue.

Texture

Glossy to shiny with minute stippling

Other structures

RadicleRadicle:
The rudimentary root of the embryo, developing into the primary root after emergence from the seed coat.
 is over half the cotyledonCotyledon:
The modified storage leaf or pair of leaves of an embryo and seedling (see primary leaf).
 length, divergent, and hooked.

Identification notes

The hilumHilum:
The scar on the seed coat at the place of its detachment from the seed stalk (funiculus).
 is covered by the hooked radicleRadicle:
The rudimentary root of the embryo, developing into the primary root after emergence from the seed coat.
. The whitish covering associated with the hilumHilum:
The scar on the seed coat at the place of its detachment from the seed stalk (funiculus).
 area is conspicuous and often appears as though the surface is cracked.

Noxious weed seed categories

State Noxious Weed: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee

AOSA examination list

Not included

Nomenclature

Family

Fabaceae

Valid name

Crotalaria spectabilis Roth

Synonyms

Crotalaria leschenaultii DC.
Crotalaria macrophylla Weinmann
Crotalaria retzii Hitchc.
Crotalaria sericea Retz., nom. illeg.

Crotalaria spectabilis. Seeds with a whitish covering associated with the hilum area that is conspicuous and often appears as though the surface is cracked. Photo courtesy of Colorado State University, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.
Crotalaria spectabilis. Seeds with a whitish covering associated with the hilum area that is conspicuous and often appears as though the surface is cracked. Photo courtesy of Colorado State University, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.