Crotalaria
(from krotalon, a castanet; the pods are inflated, and, when they are shaken, the seeds rattle). ORD. Leguminosae. A large genus containing more than 200 species of stove or greenhouse sub-shrubs or herbaceous plants, widely dispersed over all warm regions. Flowers mostly yellow, with small bracts along the pedicels, or at the base of the calyx. Leaves simple or digitately compound; these latter are usually trifoliolate, rarely five to seven-foliolate. Many species blossom freely, and are very handsome when in flower; but few of those cited by Johnson and Paxton are now to be found in cultivation. All thrive well in any light, rich soil. Young cuttings of the shrubby kinds root freely in a pot of sand, with a bell glass placed over them, in a cool house. Seeds, however, usually ripen in abundance; these should be sown on a hotbed, in spring, and, when the seedlings have attained a height of 2in. or 3in., they may be placed separately in pots, and some may be planted out in the open border, in summer, especially those from the outskirts of the tropics. Crotalarias are very liable to the attacks of red spider. C. cajanifolia (Cajanus-leaved).* fl., racemes many-flowered, almost terminal; calyces clothed with appressed pubescence. July. l. trifoliate; leaflets oblong, obtuse, mucronate, cuneated at the base, glabrous above, puberulous beneath, and canescent. h. 4ft. to 6ft. Mexico, 1824. Greenhouse shrub. C. Cunninghamii (Cunningham's).* fl. yellow-green, marked with purple lines on the reflexed standard, large, disposed in dense racemes. Summer. l. ovate, obtuse. h. 3ft. Native of the dry, almost desert regions of North-west and Central Australia, 1869. This is a remarkable looking greenhouse shrub, clothed throughout with velvety, glaucous pubescence. (B. M. 5770.) C. Heyneana (Heyne's). fl. white, blue. l. one-foliolate. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Malabar, 1868. (B. M. 5974.) C. juncea (Rush-like).* fl. yellow; racemes terminal. June. l. lanceolate, on short petioles, clothed with appressed pubescence, as well as the furrowed stems. h. 4ft. to 8ft. India,1700. Stove annual. (B. M. 490.) C. nana (dwarf). fl. yellow; peduncles opposite the leaves, three-flowered; calyx pilose. l. oblong, nearly sessile, glabrous, obtuse, mucronate. Plant diffuse. India, &c. Stove annual.