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Fabaceae family

Smooth Rattlebox (var. obovata) Crotalaria pallida var. obovata variety

Smooth Rattlebox (var. obovata) is an introduced perennial shrub, found in Hawaii, the lower 48 states, and Puerto Rico.

More about this plant

Crotalaria pallida, commonly known as the smooth crotalaria, is a species of flowering plant within the family Fabaceae. Wikipedia →

⚠ Invasive here — plant a native instead USDA + GBIF

Smooth Rattlebox (var. obovata) is flagged invasive in the U.S. These natives fill a similar niche — same growth habit, bloom season, height, and region — so you keep the look and feed local wildlife instead of spreading a problem.

Salt Heliotrope
Native
Salt Heliotrope
Heliotropium curassavicum
●●●●○
Salt Heliotrope (var. curassavicum)
Native
Salt Heliotrope (var. curassavicum)
Heliotropium curassavicum var. curassavicum
●●●●○
Wax Mallow
Native
Wax Mallow
Malvaviscus arboreus
●●●○○
Cayenne Pepper
Native
Cayenne Pepper
Capsicum annuum
●●○○○
Matched on growth habit · bloom months · mature height · shared U.S. range (USDA + GBIF) — a starting point, not a prescription.

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 9 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Shrub layer — Sits in the shrub of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~6 caterpillar species

Crotalaria supports ~6 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a modest genus.

Recorded feeding on Crotalaria in North America, including:

Erynnis baptisiae · Wild Indigo Duskywing Etiella zinckenella · snout moth Helicoverpa zea · Corn Earworm Hemiargus ceraunus · Ceraunus Blue Incisalia irus · gossamer-winged butterfly Phoebis sennae · Cloudless Sulphur
+ 4 more species →
Pima granitella · snout moth Syncopacma crotalariella · twirler moth Utetheisa bella · tiger moth Utetheisa ornatrix · Ornate Bella Moth
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (12) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — US-RIIS v2.0 (USGS)
[07] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[08] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[09] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[11] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[12] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
Spot an error or have a better photo? Every field links to its source, and the whole dataset is open.
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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