Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Crotalaria sagittalis var. 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.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Crotalaria sagittalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 11 (2023)
Crotalaria sagittalis var. sagittalis
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Crotalaria sagittalis
INCLUDED WITHIN Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Crotalaria sagittalis
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-11-003:
Crotalaria sagittalis FAMILY Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN 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 (2/10/25):
Crotalaria sagittalis var. sagittalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Crotalaria sagittalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 11
Crotalaria sagittalis var. sagittalis
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Crotalaria sagittalis
INCLUDED WITHIN
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Crotalaria sagittalis
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-11-003:
Crotalaria sagittalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
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
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