PlantFiles: Crotolaria, Rattlebox, Rattleweed, Cat's Bell
Crotalaria spectabilis

This plant does well in Zone 8; is very attractive, long blooming and reseeds abundantly. Harvest the seed from pods along the stems when dry enough to "rattle" or they will pop open and fall to the ground. This plant replaces nitrogen to the soil. It does not reuire a lot of water and is heat tolerant. Overall a good plant for yellow blooms over a long period.

This is an upright growing summer annual. The stems are coarse and well branched. Leaves are trifoliate, the leaflets varying in shape from linear to ovate. Crotalaria are adapted only to warm climates with a long growing season. Widely distributed from Florida to Texas in coastal plain and piedmont; abundant along roadsides and in fields.

All parts of the plant are poisonous, whether green or dried in hay. The seeds are especially poisonous. Chickens, horses, cattle and swine are the species usually affected, but sheep, goats, mules and dogs can be affected to a lesser degree. Poisoning occurs from consuming the green plant, hay contaminated with crotalaria, or dried seed in harvested grain.