Crotalaria phulei

Crotalaria phulei Latest News

Indian botanists recently identified a previously unknown species of flowering plant named Crotalaria phulei from forests of Nagpur.

About Crotalaria phulei

• It is a new species of flowering plant.
• It was discovered in the Khairi-Umred forest near Nagpur, Maharashtra.
• It was named in honour of Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule, India’s first woman teacher and one of India’s most influential social reformers.
• Belonging to the Fabaceae family, Crotalaria phulei is an undershrub that grows up to 1.5 metres in height. 
• Young branches are covered with silvery silky hair, while the plant bears large bright yellow flowers measuring 3.4 to 3.5 centimetres. 
• It produces pods containing seeds of a distinctive mottled creamy-olive colour, which researchers identified as unique within the genus. 
• The species flowers between November and January and fruits between December and January. 
• The species most closely resembles Crotalaria juncea, commonly known as sunhemp, and Crotalaria shrirangiana from the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. 
• The species has been assigned a preliminary conservation status of Data Deficient under the IUCN criteria. 

Source: TOI

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