Crotalaria spectabilis

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. On highway 601, part of my daily commute, the roadsides at times are a blaze with yellow flowers of Crotalaria spectabilis. There’re a half dozen native Crotalarias but six hundred species worldwide. The perennial invasive one was brought here on purpose, it outgrows the natives, and like all legumes fixes nitrogen in the soil. Sadly, by the time scientists found out that all crotalarias are poisonous it had become invasive. The genus name come from the Greek – crotal – which means rattle and gives rise to the common name of rattlebox as the seed pods rattle when dried – I thought was a reference to a baby’s rattle but crotal is also the root word for rattlesnakes’ genus – Crotalus. So when the dried pods shake do they make the sound of a baby’s rattle or a rattlesnakes warning?