Rattlebox

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Rattlebox leaf

Rattlebox

Rattlebox mature fruit

Rattlebox fruit

Rattlebox flower

Rattlebox flower

Rattlebox leaves

Morphology

Stem

Erect or ascending, slender, simple or busy-branched above, with spreading or loose hairs.

Leaves

Alternate, simple, mostly sessile, lanceolate or linear to elliptic, .6 to 2.8 inches long, 1/5 to 3/5 inch wide; surfaces pubescent; stipules on lower leaves minute or absent; stipules on upper leaves nearly size of leaves, appear as narrow, downward-pointed arrowheads.

Inflorescence

Raceme, 1-4-flowered, .4 to 1.6 inch long, in leaf axils and terminal.

Flower

Calyx 5-lobed, 1/3 to 2/5 inch long; lobes unequal, long-tapering to points; corolla papilionaceous, 1/3 to 1/2 inch long, yellow, fading whitish; petals 5; banner egg-shaped, 1/4 to 1/3 inch long; wings and keel shorter; keel petals united; stamens 10, filaments united into 1 group; 5 filaments short, anthers linear; 5 filaments longer, anthers nearly spherical.

Fruit

Pod, oblong, .8 to 1.4 inch long, .25 to .5 inch wide, much inflated, becoming blackish and leathery when mature; seeds 1/10 to 1/8 inch wide, slanting heart-shaped, shiny, grey-brown.

Ecology

Habitat

Prairies, open wooded slopes, waste areas, fallow fields; dry, sandy or rocky open ground.

Distribution

East half and Seward and Hamilton counties in southwest Kansas

Practical Information

Toxicity

Toxic to horses when eaten fresh or in dried hay. Symptoms are weakness, slow weight loss, stupor, poor appetite, and aimless pacing. The seeds are toxic to pigs and poultry.

Uses

Native Americans used the root to treat venereal disease.

Additional Notes