Plant ID - Crotalaria pallida - a legume!

Hey permies,

A buddy of mine and i discovered this plant at work and for the life of me i can't find a similar specimen.

I'm sure it will be regarded as a weed but we all know the term weed is subjective. Attached are pictures.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I broke open a dried seed pod and found nothing but bugs and bug poop. by the looks of the casing of the seed they are about the size of a ball point pen head and brown.

Howdy James. where is this plant located? In USA or other?
What Zone? Near water? Shade or sun?
Are the leaves in the picture part of the plant you are wanting to identify?
Can you tell us more about it.

Why do you think it is not a legume ?

That was suppose to be "not a legume?"

I think that because the seeds are really tiny inside that bean pod looking thing.. All the legumes I've seen have larger beans within them. The seed within looks like radish seed but a wee bit smaller. Sorry i dropped the seeds when i opened it into my yard so i couldn't take pictures of them.

This plant is located in Central Florida, full Sun, the leaves are in fact part of the plant.

OK, I added a question mark to the topic.

That is a tough one ! It sure resembles a legume of some sort.

You might want to ask Bob Dobbs about it by reposting in this thread.

https://permies.com/t/19394/plants/botanist

I think Crotalaria pallida

Good call Jennifer !

Looks like it to me.

Welcome to permies!

Outstanding, that is it! Crotalaria pallida or Smooth Rattlebox which IS in fact a legume.

Shame it's a noxious weed and susceptible to the same pests I have troubles with in my Garden. Sure is interesting to look at though.

I found some supplemental information for anyone interested:
at the Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants: http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=1425
and this at the Herbarium details Section: http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/SpecimenDetails.aspx?PlantID=1425