Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Crotalaria pumila
tronadora, hierba del cuervo, sonadora, low rattlebox, small rattle pod

























Annual or perennial herb to about 2 m tall; Young stems appressed-pubescent, sometimes glabrescent; stipules setaceous, about 1-3 mm long; inflorescences racemose, flowers about 6-12 mm long, petals yellow with the standard sometimes reddish-tipped; seeds subcordate (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Fabales
Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Crotalaria
Species
pumila
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Crotalaria lupulina DC. fide Wiggins & Porter (1971), C. lupulina Kunth, C. puberula Hook.f. fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010).
Origin: Native
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: The native range of this species is S. U.S.A to Tropical America (POWO, 2023).
- Andersson, N.J. (1861-1862) Ueber Die Vegetation der Galapagos-Inseln Linnaea 31: 571-631
- Andersson, N.J. (1858) Flora of the Galápagos Islands (translated from Swedish). Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Academien Botanik 1: 3-34
- Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
- Atahuachi, M. Arrázola, S. (1996) Catálogo de leguminosas nativas en Cochabamba. Legum. Agric. Boliv. 409–423.
- Blake, S. Wikelski, M., Cabrera, F., Guézou, A., Silva, M., Sadeghayobi, E., Yackulik, C. & Jaramillo, P. (2011) Gardeners of Galapagos? Seed dispersal by giant tortoises. Journal of Biogeography (submission): 1-41.
- Brako, L. Zarucchi,J.L. (1993) Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45: i–xl, 1–1286.
- Eliasson, U. (1965) Studies in Galápagos Plants. I. Leguminosae. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 59: 345-367.
- Hendrix, L.B. Smith, S.D. (1986) Post eruption revegetation of Isla Fernandina, Galapagos II. (NB no recs cited in Lawesson et al. nor in database.) Nat. Geograph. Research 2(1): 6-16.
- Hooker, J.D. (1847) An Enumeration of the Plants of the Galapagos Archipelago; with descriptions of those which are new. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 20: 163-233.
- Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
- Macbride, J.F. (1943) Leguminosae Flora of Peru. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 13(3/1): 1–506.
- Robinson, B.L. (1902) Flora of the Galapagos Islands. Papers from the Hopkins-Stanford Expedition to the Galapgaos Islands. Proc. Amer. Acad. 38(4): 78-270.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
- Standley, P.C. Steyermark, J.A. (1946) Burseraceae. In Standley, P.C. & Steyermark, J.A. (eds.) Flora of Guatemala - Part V. Fieldiana, Bot. 24(5): 434–444
- Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
- Svenson, H.K. (1935) Plants of the Astor Expedition, 1930 (Galapagos and Cocos Islands). Am. J. Bot. 22: 208-277.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Van der Werff, H.H. (s.a.) Pers. obs. and colls. Personal observations and collections.
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Crotalaria pumila", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=511. Accessed 30 October 2026.