Cusara pea
Crotalaria zanzibarica, Fam. Fabaceae
Annual or short-lived perennial with erect ribbed hairy stems to 3m.
| Weed Category: |
Other invasive plants Invasive plants that are not prohibited or restricted invasive plants, but are known to spread readily and cause negative impacts, within the region.
|
| Weed: | Yes |
| Form or habit: | Shrub |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Leaf: | Simple Alternate Simple, alternate, digitately 3-foliate, leaflets elliptic to lanceolate, 25-100 x 10-25mm, green above and paler below with sparse appressed hairs, stalk 25-55mm long. Stipules absent. |
| Flower conspicuous: | Conspicuous |
| Flower colour: |
Yellow, Red, Purple |
| Flower description: | Yellow with reddish-purple veins and usually a purplish patch near the base, 12-15mm long, racemes up to 400mm long. |
| Fruit conspicuous: | Conspicuous |
| Fruit colour: |
Black |
| Fruit: | Dry |
| Fruit description: | Pods 30-45 x 7-11mm, glabrous, black at maturity, containing 50-70 orange to red-brown seeds, 2-3mm long. |
| Habitat: | |
| Distribution | |
| Food source for: | |
| Toxicity: | No toxicity known |
| Origin: | Tropical Africa |
| Notes: | Spread by: gravity, water and contaminated machinery used for road construction and agriculture. Invades/threats: uncultivated pastures, crops, roadsides, disturbed environmental areas, especially on sandy soils. Often occur in large colonies. Notes: large populations in areas of the Whitsundays, Slade Point and North Mackay. Many rattlepods, both introduced and native species, occur in this region so correct identification is essential, especially for managers of environmental areas. Most species have nitrogen fixing nodules on their roots. The hard seeds have a long viability and build up in the soil seed bank. Environmental weed. |
| Information sources: | Mackay Regional Pest Management Group (2018) Weeds of the Mackay Whitsunday Region Second Edition. |
