Herbs annual or short-lived perennial. Stems erect, 70–250 cm, strigose. Leaves 3-foliolate; stipules absent; leaflet blades linear to linear-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, 50–130(–180) mm, length 7–10 times width, surfaces strigose abaxially, glabrous adaxially. Racemes 4–12-flowered, terminal or subterminal, 15–40 cm; bracts persistent, linear-triangular, minute. Flowers: calyx broadly cylindrical, truncate basally, 4–6 mm, lobes triangular, shiny-glabrous; corolla pale yellow with prominent reddish purple lines, 18–20 mm. Legumes straight, (40–)50–70 × (10–)15–20 mm, sparsely strigose or glabrescent. 2n = 16.

Phenology: Flowering Apr–Oct.
Habitat: Roadsides, ditches, prairie swales, sandy fields.
Elevation: 0–10 m.

Distribution

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Introduced; Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Africa, introduced also in South America (Brazil), Asia (China), Pacific Islands (Papua New Guinea), Australia.

Discussion

Crotalaria ochroleuca has often been identified in the United States as C. intermedia Kotschy or C. brevidens Bentham var. intermedia (Kotschy) Polhill.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.