crotalaria

(ˌkrɒtəˈlɛərɪə) na genus of plants and shrubs of the Fabaceae family with pods in which the seeds rattle

Thesaurus

Noun

crotalaria - any of various plants of the genus Crotalaria having inflated pods within which the seeds rattle; used for pasture and green-manure cropsrattleboxherb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pestsgenus Crotalaria - large genus of herbs with simple leaves and racemes of yellow flowers; mainly of tropical AfricaAmerican rattlebox, Crotalaria sagitallis - tropical American annual herb having an inflated pod in which the ripe seeds rattleCrotalaria spectabilis, Indian rattlebox - erect subshrub having purple-tinted flowers and an inflated pod in which the ripe seeds rattle; India

Crotalaria

(rattlebox), a genus of plants of the family Leguminosae. They are perennial and, rarely, annual herbs, subshrubs, or shrubs. The leaves are entire, ternate, or, more rarely, palmate. The flowers, which are yellow (sometimes blue or purple), are in apical or axillary inflorescences; sometimes they are solitary. There are over 500 species, distributed in the tropics and subtropics, primarily in Africa.

Sunn (Crotalaria juncea), which is also known as sunn hemp and Indian hemp, is an ancient textile crop. It is cultivated primarily in India, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Vietnam, and Indonesia; it is also grown in Africa, Australia, and America. In the USSR it is cultivated in Transcaucasia and Middle Asia. Sunn is an annual plant, measuring up to 2.5 m tall; it has entire leaves, large yellow flowers, and extremely inflated, thickly pubescent pods. The fiber obtained from its stalks is used to manufacture string, rope, fishnets, burlap, and sails; in the USA it is also used in the manufacture of special types of paper. Sunn is a valuable green manure. Some other species of Crotalaria, such as C. retusa, are also cultivated for their fibers but are less significant.

REFERENCE

Siniagin, I. I. Tropicheskoe zemledelie. Moscow, 1968.

T. V. EGOROVA

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Crotalaria

Crotalaria

REFERENCE

crotalaria

Synonyms for crotalaria

noun any of various plants of the genus Crotalaria having inflated pods within which the seeds rattle

Synonyms

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