Crotalaria verrucosa L., Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Crotalaria angulosa Lam.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: blue-flower rattlepod, purple popbush, shack-shack, tooth-leaf rattlepod

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual herb to 80 cm tall, the branches angled, zigzag, appressed pubescent.  Stipules ovate, rounded or sickle-shaped, often encircling the node, 0.7-2 cm long, 0.5-1.3 cm wide; petioles 2-3 mm long; leaves simple, broadly ovate to elliptic, 3-7 (5-12) cm long, 2-6 (4-8) cm wide, apex rounded, or acute and mucronulate, base narrowed, glabrous.  Racemes terminal, several-flowered, to 24 cm long, calyx deeply cleft, lobes 6 mm long, upper lobe ovate, lower lanceolate, corolla blue, often variegated with white.  Pod oblong, 3-4 cm long, 9-12 mm thick, adpressed pubescent or with spreading brown hairs; seeds about 12, brown, 5 x 4 mm."  (Howard, 1988)"Herb with simple, alternate, ovate leaves, conspicuous leafy stipules, white papilionaceous flowers in terminal racemes, and inflated pods" (Whistler, 1988; p. 23).

Habitat/ecology:  "Uncommon on roadsides and in waste places" (Whistler, 1988; p. 23). "Adventive on Niue" (Sykes, 1970; p. 149).  In New Caledonia, "récolté une seule fois" (MacKee, 1994; p. 82).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Native of Asia now widely naturalized in the tropics." (Howard, 1988; pp. 472-473).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Cook Islands	Cook Islands		McCormack, Gerald (2008)
French Polynesia French Polynesia Islands	Opiha'a? Atoll		Welsh, S. L. (1998)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Mopelia (Mapetia, Maupiha‘a, Maupihoa, Mopiha‘a) Atoll	introduced invasive	Sachet, M.-H. (1983) (p. 28) Voucher cited: Sachet 935 (US)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced invasive	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 146) Vouchers cited: Florence 3519, BRY 26679
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 146) Voucher cited: Sachet 935
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced	Wester, Lyndon (1992) (p. 138)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R. (1995) (p. 19) Vouchers cited: Fosberg & Evans 58853 (BISH), A.F. Judd 53 (BISH), Inafuku s.n. (BISH), A.J. Mangelsdorf s.n. (BISH)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 90)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 82) Voucher cited: Pancher s.n. s.loc.
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced	Sykes, W. R. (1970) (p. 149) Voucher cited: CHR 150542
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced invasive	Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 23)
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced invasive	Yuncker, T. G. (1943) (p. 61) Voucher cited: Yuncker 9748 (BISH) "Occasional along roadsides and in waste areas".
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara M./Newfield, Melanie/Bull, Cate (2004) (p. 14)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Western Samoa Islands		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 23)

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)	Australia (continental)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	uncertain if native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	uncertain if native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	uncertain if native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	uncertain if native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Groupe d'Aldabra	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2009)

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

Information about Crotalaria verrucosa as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

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

Other Latin names:  Crotalaria angulosa Lam.

References:

Howard, Richard A. 1988. Flora of the Lesser Antilles: Leeward and Windward Islands. Vol. 4, Dicotyledoneae-Part 1. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 673 pp.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2009. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Sachet, M.-H. 1983. Natural history of Mopelia Atoll, Society Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Reserch Bulletin 274. 37 pp.

Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara M./Newfield, Melanie/Bull, Cate. 2004. Report to the Government of Niue and the United Nations Development Programme: Invasive plant species on Niue following Cyclone Heta. UNDP NIU/98/G31 - Niue Enabling Activity. 80 pp.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Sykes, W. R. 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 200, Wellington. 321 pp.

Tassin, Jacques. 2005. Jacques Tassin (IAC-CIRAD), personal communication.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R. 1995. Contributions to the Flora of Hawai‘i. IV. New Records and name changes. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 42:13-27.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.

Wester, Lyndon. 1992. Origin and distribution of adventive flowering plants in Hawai‘i. In: Stone, Charles P.; Smith, Clifford W. and Tunison, J. Timothy. Alien plant invasions in native ecosystems of Hawaii: Management and Research. University of Hawaii, Cooperative National Park Research Studies Unit, Honolulu. University of Hawaii Press. .

Whistler, W. A. 1988. Checklist of the weed flora of western Polynesia. Technical Paper No. 194, South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 69 pp.

Yuncker, T. G. 1943. The flora of Niue Island. Bishop Mus. Bull. 178. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 126 pp.