Rattlebox

Crotalaria retusa, commonly called rattlebox, devil-bean, rattleweed, shack shack, or wedge-leaf rattlepod, is an erect annual herb in the Fabaceae family standing 60-150 cm tall with stout angular pubescent branches. The plant produces alternate, simple, oblanceolate to obovate (wedge-shaped) leaves 4-12 cm long, retuse or emarginate at the apex, glabrous above and finely hairy beneath. From spring through autumn it bears erect terminal racemes 15-30 cm long of widely spaced bright yellow papilionaceous pea-like flowers about 2.5 cm long, often with rusty-red veining on the standard petal. The fruit is a characteristic inflated cylindrical legume pod about 3-4 cm long that turns black at maturity, in which the loose seeds rattle audibly when shaken, accounting for several common names. Of disputed native range likely encompassing tropical Asia, Africa, and Australia, the species is now a noxious weed in numerous U.S. states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, India, Cuba, and Cocos Island.