Revisiting the taxonomy of Crotalaria priestleyoides (Fabaceae: Papilionoideae), an endemic legume of Western Ghats Jabeena, Manjakulam Khadhersha Prabhukumar, Konickal Mambetta Maya, Chandrashekaran Nair Sunil, Chandrasseril Narayanan Balachandran, Indira Phytotaxa 2023 2023-04-26 594 2 153 157 9CQY6 Benth. ex Beddome (1865: 214) Bentham ex Beddome 214 1865 [136,788,596,623] Magnoliopsida Fabaceae Crotalaria Plantae Fabales 2 155 Tracheophyta species priestleyoides    Figure 1.    Type ( neotype, here designated):— INDIA, Hab. Concan & C., Herb Stockss.n. ( K000591060).  Isoneotypes: P02750837, P02750839, P02750840, L1986583, M0219498, CAL 103418(digital images!).  Figure 2   Description:—A much branched trailing herb, up to 35 cmlong, covered with brown silky hairs. Stem prostrate, terete, slender, densely hairy. Leaves membranous, simple, alternate, sub-sessile, 0.6–2 × 0.4–0.9 cm, elliptic or obovate, base acute, margin entire, apex round, mucronate, sparsely hairy above, densely hairy below; midrib impressed above and raised below; lateral nerves 4–5 pairs, indistinct. Stipules absent. Inflorescence terminal, 4–8 flowered raceme with a short peduncle which looks like a capitulum; peduncle 1–2(–6) mm long, hairy. Flowers pedicellate, bracteate; pedicel 3–4 mmlong, hairy. Bracts 2, equal, 1.3–1.5 × 0.2–0.4 cm, lanceolate, acuminate at apex, hairy outside, glabrous inside, persistent; bracteoles 2, similar to bracts, 0.9–1 cmlong. Calyx bilipped, 5-lobed, lobes unequal, free near to the base, 1.5–1.7 × 0.3–0.4 cm, hairy outside, glabrous inside; upper lip 2-lobed, lanceolate, apex acute; lower lip 3-lobed, linear, acuminate at apex. Corolla as long as the calyx, yellow; standard 0.9–1.2 × 0.9–1.0 cm, obovate, glabrous except few hairs on the back; wing petals 0.7–0.9 × 0.2–0.3 cm, oblong, glabrous, keel 0.9–1.0 × 0.5 cm, beak of keel spirally twisted. Staminal sheath 0.6 cmlong; filament glabrous; anthers dimorphic (5+5), 5 large, linear, ca. 1.5 mm, 5 small, globose, ca. 0.25 mmin diameter. Ovary 2.5 mmlong, ovoid, glabrous; style ca. 6 mmlong, hairy towards the apex; stigma blunt. Pods sessile, included in the calyx, 12–14 × 6–7 mm, oblong, tip hooked, blackish brown, glabrous. Seeds 12–15, reniform, ca. 2.5 × 2.5 mm, brown, smooth, polished.   Phenology:—October to December.  Habitat:—The species is found among exposed grasslands above at an altitude of 1300 malong with other legumes such as  Crotalaria nanaBurm.f. (1768: 48),  C. multifloraBenth. (1843: 478)and  Flemingia strobilifera( Linnaeus 1753: 746) W.T. Aiton (1812: 350)etc.   Distribution:—The plant is native and endemic to the Western Ghats with distribution in the states of Kerala, Tamil Naduand Karnataka.   Specimens examined:—  INDIA.  Karnataka: Kulhutty, Bababudanhills,  6000 ft.,  October 1908,  A. Meebold9581 ( CAL).  T amil Nadu: Nilgiri, Coimbatore district, Bellaji,  5000 ft.,  17 November 1906,  C.E.C. Fischer1301 ( DD);  Doddabetta,  5000 ft.,  29 November 1906,  C.E.C. Fischer1295 (CAL);   Kerala: Travancore, Kumili,  4000 ft.,  December 1910,  A. Meebold869 ( DD13062).  Palakkaddistrict, Nelliyampathy hills, Hill top,  17 August 2014,  K.M. Prabhukumar8736 ( CMPR);  Palakkaddistrict, Nelliyampathy hills, Hill top,  20 January 2018,  Jabeena M. K.& Maya C. Nair1110 ( GVCH);   01 February 2020,  Jabeena M. K.& Maya C. Nair3988 ( GVCH). 4100378305 [136,1297,632,659] K Herb Stocks India INDIA 2 155 K000591060 1 neotype 4100378307 K Herb Stocks India INDIA 2 155 P02750837, P02750839, P02750840, L1986583, M0219498, CAL 103418 1 isoneotype 4100378306 1908-10 1906-11-29 1906-11-17 CAL A. Meebold India Nilgiri 1829 Bababudan Kulhutty 3 156 1 Karnataka 4100378308 1906-11-17 1906-11-29 1906-11-17 DD C. E. C. Fischer India Nilgiri 1524 Bellaji Coimbatore district 3 156 1 T amil Nadu 4100378301 [211,1009,950,977] 1906-11-29 1906-11-29 1906-11-17 C. E. C. Fischer India Nilgiri 1524 Doddabetta Kulhutty 3 156 1 Karnataka 4100378304 1910-12 1906-11-29 1906-11-17 DD A. Meebold India Travancore 1219 Kumili Kumili 3 156 DD13062 1 Kerala 4100378302 2014-08-17 1906-11-29 1906-11-17 CMPR K. M. Prabhukumar India Palakkad 1829 Nelliyampathy hills Kulhutty 3 156 1 Karnataka 4100378303 2018-01-20 1906-11-29 1906-11-17 GVCH Jabeena M. K. & Maya C. Nair India Palakkad 1829 Nelliyampathy hills Kulhutty 3 156 1 Karnataka 4100378309 [401,1139,1058,1085] 2020-02-01 1906-11-29 1906-11-17 GVCH Jabeena M. K. & Maya C. Nair India Nilgiri 1829 Bababudan Kulhutty 3 156 1 Karnataka