Crotalaria nigricans Baker
var. nigricans

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Habit
Riverine forest margin
Lunzua River, Mpulungu
Aug 2022
Photo: Nick Wightman

Leaves
Riverine forest margin
Lunzua River, Mpulungu
Aug 2022
Photo: Nick Wightman

Flower
Riverine forest margin
Lunzua River, Mpulungu
Aug 2022
Photo: Nick Wightman

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Synonyms:
Common names:
Frequency:	Locally common
Status:	Native
Description:	Prostrate to erect perennial herb, much branched, branches up to 1.5 m long, with fine spreading hairs; leaves 3-foliolate, petioles 2-6 mm long; leaflets 1-3 x 0.5-1.2 cm, oblanceolate to oblong-obovate, sparsely pubescent above and thinly hairy beneath; stipules 3-6 mm long, lanceolate; flowers in 4-12 sessile or shortly pedunculate terminal heads; bracts 4-9 mm, ovate; calyx 4 lobed, 8-13 mm long, almost enclosing the corolla, pubescent, lobes 2-3 times as long as tube; standard circular-ovate to oblate, usually pale yellow, reddish-tinged and puberulous along the midvein outside towards the apex; wings longer than keel; keel 8-10 mm long, rounded about the middle and with a short incurved beak; pod enveloped by calyx, sessile, 7-10 mm long, ellipsoid, spreading hairy, c. 4-8 seeded; seeds c. 2.5 mm long, obliquely cordiform, smooth, mauvish-brown. Var. nigricans differs in having prostrate stems radiating from a rather woody taproot and inflorescences never more than a few centimetres from the ground.
Type location:	Tanzania
Notes:	Prostrate perennial herb with stems c. 50 cm long and shortly petiolate leaves. Calyx 4 lobed and partially enclosing around corolla.
Derivation of specific name:	nigricans: blackish, presumably referring to the tendency of the plants to turn blackish upon drying in the press.
Habitat:	Miombo woodland, particularly sandy places where a little additional water collects and in grasslands by streams and on flood plains.
Altitude range:	600 - 1500 m
Flowering time:	Apr - Sep
Worldwide distribution:	DRC (Katanga) and Tanzania south through Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca):	N,W,C
Zambian distribution (Provinces):	Cb,N,C
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Saturday 22 October 2022
Literature:	Martins, E.S. et al. (2003). Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(7) Pages 130 - 132.

Other sources of information about Crotalaria nigricans var. nigricans:

Our websites:

Flora of Malawi: Crotalaria nigricans var. nigricans
Flora of Mozambique: Crotalaria nigricans var. nigricans

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Crotalaria nigricans
African Plant Database: Crotalaria nigricans
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Crotalaria nigricans
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Crotalaria nigricans
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Crotalaria nigricans
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Crotalaria nigricans
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Crotalaria nigricans
JSTOR Plant Science: Crotalaria nigricans
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Crotalaria nigricans
Plants of the World Online: Crotalaria nigricans
Tropicos: Crotalaria nigricans
Wikipedia: Crotalaria nigricans