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Crotalaria pallida
Fabaceae FAMILY

Crotalaria pallida

Crotalaria pallida

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

Seeds of many Crotalaria spp., including this species, contain a number of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, such as mucronatine and monocrotaline which affect the liver and may kill birds and mammals[1]. They are particularly insidious toxins, as their effects may only become apparent weeks or months after the animal has stopped eating the seeds[1]. The concentrations are low in this species and toxic effects have only been observed when chicks were fed the seeds for several weeks[1]. The leaves contain an alkaloid poisonous to goats; the dried leaves are not toxic[1]. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids have a cumulative effect upon the body and, unless concentrations in a plant are high, occasional use is generally completely safe. They are derived from amino acids including ornithine. Many pyrrolizidine alkaloids have pronounced hepatic toxicity, but the lungs and other organs may be affected as well. Mutagenic and carcinogenic activities of pyrrolizidine alkaloids have also been reported[2].

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

A plant of the lowland tropics and subtropics, where it has been successfully grown at elevations up to 1,800 metres[1]. It grows in a wide range of annual rainfall conditions, from 850 mm to over 3,000 mm, and occurs occasionally in rather dry locations[1]. The average annual temperature varies from 16 - 26°c[1]. Succeeds on a wide range of soils, except on peat soils that developed under coarse grass[1]. It is considered well suited to sandy soils[1] and has succeeded in saline conditions in Thailand[1]. It requires a sunny position, growing poorly in shade[1]. Often grown as a green manure, the plant can escape from cultivation and become naturalized. It is reported to be invasive in many areas, where it grows in open and disturbed sites such as pastures, waste ground, roadsides and sand dunes at elevations up to 1,070 metres[3]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[4, 5].

Propagation

Seed - pre-soaking the seed for 12 hours in warm water can help to reduce germination time. If you have sufficient seed then it can be sown in situ. Otherwise sow in trays in a nursey and, when the seedlings are large enough to handle, pot them up into individual pots. Plant out when 15cm or more tall. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Crotalaria+pallida>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
  2. [2]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  3. [3]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
  4. [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  5. [5]Nodulation Plants in GRIN Taxonomy — United States Department of Agriculture · http://www.ars-grin.gov/~sbmljw/cgi-bin/taxnodul.pl?language=en ↩︎An online database listing plants that have either positive or negative reports on root and stem nodulation with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
  6. [6]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  7. [7]Flora Zambesiaca — http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html ↩︎An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants.
  8. [8]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region
  10. [10]Madagascar. An Environmental Profile. — Jenkins M.D. (Editor) · World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Cambridge. · 1987 · ISBN 2-88032-607-9 ↩︎Contains a list of the Ethnobotanical uses of Madagascar plants.