How to Grow and Care for longbeak rattlebox

Showy rattlebox (Crotalaria spectabilis) is an annual herbaceous plant that makes a good soil stabilizer, and also serves to enrich the soil along the way. Unfortunately, it is toxic to livestock. Since few mammals eat showy rattlebox, it has a tendency to grow and spread quickly. It became invasive after being introduced in North America.

The Crotalaria pallida, also known as smooth rattlebox, is a yellow-flowered shrub. Because it is a nitrogen fixer (it's a member of the legume family), it is a fairly popular ground-cover species. It's also used as "green manure", which means it is grown only to be plowed back directly into fields, returning its nutrients to the soil. Smooth rattlebox is so-named because its seeds rattle within their pods when they dry out.

Many US states classify shack shack (Crotalaria retusa) as a noxious weed since it is a fast-spreading, drought-tolerant plant. The plant is toxic to humans and livestock, containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids. However, despite all these negatives shack shack at least produces attractive hood-shaped yellow flowers.

Sunn hemp is a tropical plant in the legume family with pretty yellow blooms, originally found in India. It is often grown for its use as fodder and fiber; however, in some areas it is considered to be a noxious weed.

When you shake the seedpods of low rattlebox (Crotalaria pumila), you’ll hear what sounds like a real snake's rattle. When these seedpods are dry, they explode with a pop and fly out in every direction. This species is poisonous.