座地猪屎豆 zuo di zhu shi dou

Herbs, annual, prostrate to erect. Stems terete, branched at base, densely yellow silky pubescent. Stipules absent. Leaves simple, subsessile; leaf blade linear, 1.5-3 × 0.2-0.4 cm, both surfaces silky pilose but more densely so abaxially, base slightly cuneate, apex obtuse and mucronate. Racemes terminal, headlike, 2-6-flowered; bracts linear, 2-3 mm. Pedicel short; bracteoles inserted at base of calyx, subulate, ca. 3 mm, silky pilose. Calyx 2-lipped, 4-5 mm; abaxial 3 lobes lanceolate-tri­angular; adaxial 2 lobes connate, oblong, apex obtuse. Corolla yellow, slightly shorter than and included in calyx. Ovary sub­sessile. Legume ovoid to globose, 4-5 mm, 6-12-seeded.

Sandy soils; below 100-1900 m. Hainan [India, Myanmar, Nepal].

Crotalaria nana var. nana, recorded from W India and Sri Lanka, has wider leaves and coarser trichomes on the calyx.