Taxon: Crotalaria pallida Aiton

Summary

Genus:

Crotalaria

Family:

Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)

Subfamily:

Faboideae

Tribe:

Crotalarieae

Nomen number:

70209

Place of publication:

Hort. kew. 3:20. 1789

Verified:

09/12/2005 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

50 (25 active, 25 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Crotalaria pallida Aiton var. obovata (G. Don) Polhill (1 active accession[s])
Crotalaria pallida Aiton var. pallida (0 active accession[s])

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Crotalaria brownei Bertero ex DC.
Crotalaria mucronata Desv.
Crotalaria striata DC.

Images (3 total. Click on image for more.)

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Aubréville, A. et al., eds. 1960-. Flore du Cambodge du Laos et du Viet-Nam.
Bernal M., H. Y. 1986. Crotalaria (Fabaceae - Faboideae). In: Pinto, P. & P. M. Ruiz, eds., Flora de Colombia. 4:49.
Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
Du Puy, D. J. et al. 2002. The Leguminosae of Madagascar
Duke, J. A. 1981. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance
Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds. 1997. Auxiliary plants. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 103.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
Grierson, A. J. C. & D. J. Long. 1984-. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim.
Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
International Seed Testing Association. 1982. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2.
Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
Lock, J. M. & C. S. Ford. 2004. Legumes of Malesia: a checklist
Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
Magness, J. R. et al. 1971. Food and feed crops of the United States. IR Bull. 1
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
Niyomdham, C. 1978. A revision of the genus Crotalaria Linn. (Papilionaceae) in Thailand. Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 11:149.
Polhill, R. M. 1982. Crotalaria in Africa and Madagascar 185.
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Seed Regulatory and Testing Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S.D.A. State noxious-weed seed requirements recognized in the administration of the Federal Seed Act (updated annually).
Thulin, M. 1983. Leguminosae of Ethiopia. Opera Bot. 68:1-223.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Ugarte, E. et al. 2011. Vascular alien flora, Chile. Check List 7(3):365-382.
Verdcourt, B. 1979. A manual of New Guinea legumes.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:739.
Yang, C. Y. 1983. On the problems of the classification of Crotalaria in China. Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 3(4):102.

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	Moreton Island rattlepod	1	Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
English	salts rattlebox	1	Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds. 1997. Auxiliary plants. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 103.
English	smooth crotalaria	1	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
English	smooth rattlebox	1	Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds. 1997. Auxiliary plants. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 103.
English	streaked rattlepod	1	Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
English	striped crotalaria	1	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
French	crotalaire mucronée	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
India	san	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Italian	crotalaria striata	2	International Seed Testing Association. 1982. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2.
Transcribed Chinese	zhu shi dou	2	Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Kenya			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Tanzania			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Uganda			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Chad			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Ethiopia			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Sudan			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Angola			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Malawi			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Mozambique			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zambia			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zimbabwe			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Eswatini			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	KwaZulu-Natal		Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Transvaal		Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Benin			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Burkina Faso			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Côte D'Ivoire			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Gambia			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Ghana			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Guinea			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Guinea-Bissau			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Liberia			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Mali			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Niger			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Nigeria			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Senegal			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Sierra Leone			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Togo			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Burundi			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Cameroon			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Central African Republic			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Democratic Republic of the Congo			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Gabon			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Rwanda			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Sao Tome and Principe			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Africa	Western Indian Ocean	Madagascar			Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Fujian Sheng		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Guangdong Sheng		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Hunan Sheng		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Shanxi Sheng		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Sichuan Sheng		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Yunnan Sheng		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Zhejiang Sheng		Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Eastern Asia	Taiwan
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Bangladesh			Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Bhutan			Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Andhra Pradesh		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Arunachal Pradesh		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Assam		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Bihar		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Delhi		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Goa		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Gujarat		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Haryana		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Himachal Pradesh		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Jammu and Kashmir		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Karnataka		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Kerala		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Madhya Pradesh		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Maharashtra		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Manipur		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Meghalaya		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Mizoram		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Nagaland		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Odisha		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Puducherry		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Punjab		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Rajasthan		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Sikkim		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Tamil Nadu		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Tripura		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Uttar Pradesh		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	West Bengal		Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Pakistan			Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Cambodia			Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	India	Andaman and Nicobar Islands
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Laos			Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Myanmar			Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Thailand			Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Vietnam			Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	San Luis Potosí		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:739.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Sinaloa		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:739.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Tabasco		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:739.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:739.
2	Cultivated					also cult.
4	Naturalized					widely natzd. elsewhere in tropics	Polhill, R. M. 1982. Crotalaria in Africa and Madagascar 185.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil			Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Chile			Ugarte, E. et al. 2011. Vascular alien flora, Chile. Check List 7(3):365-382.

Native
Africa

NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad
EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Burundi, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe
WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Eswatini, South Africa [KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal]
WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar

Asia-Temperate

CHINA: China [Fujian Sheng, Guangdong Sheng, Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu, Hunan Sheng, Shanxi Sheng, Sichuan Sheng, Yunnan Sheng, Zhejiang Sheng]
EASTERN ASIA: Taiwan

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India [Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal], Pakistan
INDO-CHINA: India [Andaman and Nicobar Islands], Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

Northern America

NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Tabasco, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave]

Cultivated (also cult.)
Naturalized

REGION:

Southern America

BRAZIL: Brazil
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Chile

Reference(s)

Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.
Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
Lock, J. M. & J. Heald. 1994. Legumes of Indochina: a checklist
Lock, J. M. 1989. Legumes of Africa: a checklist
Polhill, R. M. 1982. Crotalaria in Africa and Madagascar 185.
Ugarte, E. et al. 2011. Vascular alien flora, Chile. Check List 7(3):365-382.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:739.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Animal food	forage	grazing	Duke, J. A. 1981. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance
Environmental	soil improver		Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds. 1997. Auxiliary plants. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 103.
Environmental	soil improver		Magness, J. R. et al. 1971. Food and feed crops of the United States. IR Bull. 1
Vertebrate poisons	birds	as Crotalaria mucronata	Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Note: poisonous
Vertebrate poisons	mammals	as Crotalaria mucronata	Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Note: poisonous
Weed	seed contaminant	potential	Seed Regulatory and Testing Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S.D.A. State noxious-weed seed requirements recognized in the administration of the Federal Seed Act (updated annually).

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=70209. Accessed 15 April 2026.