Crotalaria goreensis Guill. & Perr., Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: gamba pea, Gambia pea, rattlepod

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Erect or rather spreading annual or short-live perennial, up to 6-26 cm tall, simple to much branched.  Stem ribbed, densely pubescent, with appressed or usually mostly slightly spreading hairs.  Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets variable, narrowly oblanceolate-oblong to obovate, up to 35-85 mm long, 8-25 mm wide, glabrous or sparsely appressed pubescent above, thinly appressed pubescent beneath; petiole up to 35-65 mm long. Stipules oblong-falcate, 9-25 mm long, 3-7 mm wide, acuminate, very unequal-sided.  Racemes 4-24 cm long, with many flowers crowded at least towards the top; bracts subulate or filiform, 3-4 mm long, early caducous; bracteoles inserted on the pedicel, filiform, 1-1.5 mm long, caducous.  Calyx 4-5 mm long, appressed or rather spreading pubescent especially on the lobes; lobes subulate-triangular, ± as long as the tube.  Standard ovate, yellow, veined or suffused with orange, brown or purple, glabrous outside; wings oblong, a little shorter than the keel; keel bent at right-angles in the lower half, with a well-developed straight untwisted beak, 8.5-10 (-11.5) mm long, conspicuously white lanate-pubescent on the lateral surfaces towards the upper margin.  Pod subsessile, oblong-ellipsoid, 15-20 mm long, 7-9 mm across, thinly pubescent with appressed or slightly spreading hairs, often mottled brown or purplish, 12-16-seeded.  Seeds oblong-reniform, ± 4 mm long, with a small aril, minutely granulate, sometimes radially veined, yellow, usually tinged orange or red" (Gillett et al., 1971; pp. 875-876).

"Annual herb or shrub to 2 m tall, most parts with short flattened hairs.  Leaves with 3 leaflets, prominent stipules in the axils.  Flowers yellow, pea-shaped, in racemes up to 25 cm long at the end of branches.  Pods inflated, maturing brown with many small orange-red seeds" (Smith, 2002; p. 59).

Habitat/ecology:  "Common on disturbed sites, roadsides, overgrazed pastures and in riparian habitats. It readily invades disturbed areas and prevents the regeneration of native species" (Smith, 2002; p. 59).  In east Africa, "deciduous woodland and grassland, sometimes on termite mounds, also persisting on roadsides and cultivated ground; 600-2400 m" (Gillett et al., 1971; pp. 875-876).

Propagation:  "Seed is dispersed in contaminated pasture seed and fodder. Also by machinery, vehicles and water." (Smith, 2002; p. 59).

Native range:  Tropical Africa (Smith, 2002; p. 59).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced invasive	Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (p. 143) Vouchers cited: Fosberg 58593 (US), Fosberg 58612 (US), Fosberg 58738 (US), Scully 106N (US), Thaman & Manner 3 (SUVA), Thaman & Manner 58 (SUVA), Thaman & Manner 22311 (SUVA), Swarbrick 9569 (BRIU)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	introduced invasive	Smith, Nicholas M. (2002) (p. 59)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	Smith, Nicholas M. (2002) (p. 59)

Additional information:  Additional online information about Crotalaria goreensis is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Crotalaria goreensis may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Gillett, J. B., R. M. Polhill and B. Verdcourt. 1971. Leguminosae (Part 4) Subfamily Papilionoideae (2). In: Milne-Redhead, E. and R. M. Polhill, eds. 1971. Leguminosae (Part 4) Subfamily Papilionoideae (2). In: Milne-Redhead, E., and R. M. Polhill, eds. Flora of tropical east Africa. Crown Agents, London.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2005. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

Smith, Nicholas M. 2002. Weeds of the wet/dry tropics of Australia - a field guide. Environment Centre NT, Inc. 112 pp.

Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. 1994. The flora of Nauru. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Research Bulletin 392:1-223.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.