Recommended for your garden in the south of Spain: Crotalaria cunninghamii

The unusual bright-green flowers, veined with black or purple, look like little birds attached to the stem by their beaks

Denise Bush

Malaga

Friday, 19 July 2024, 17:57 | Updated 18:13h.

Commonly called the rattle pod or green bird flower, Crotalaria cunninghamii is native to regions in northern Australia.

A member of the Fabaceae family (legumes), Crotalaria cunninghamii has unusual bright-green flowers, veined with black or purple, that look like little birds attached to the stem by their beaks.

The flowers appear in clusters at the ends of the branches and are followed by hard, velvety seed pods which rattle when shaken.

When fully grown, it will form a shrub between two and four metres high by about two metres wide. The light-green oval leaves are around 30mm long and like most parts of the plant, covered by fine velvety hairs. The sap from the stems is used by the Aborigine to treat eye infections and swellings.

The stems are also a source of very good quality fibre, used by the native people to make sandals and twine and commercially to make canvas, fishing nets, cord and paper.

Crotalaria is a genus with approximately 500 species. Like all the legume family, they have a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria which forms nodules on the roots and fixes atmospheric nitrogen. This nitrogen is then used by the plant itself and any other plant growing near it.

The green bird flower is mainly used for landscaping but it can also be used as a specimen plant. It needs a location where it will receive plenty of sun, in free-draining soil.

Once established, it will withstand short periods of drought but will thrive if watered occasionally during the summer months. It is not frost hardy but easy to propagate from seed and fast growing. The seed has a very hard coating and needs to be scarified before sowing. To do this, pour water that is near boiling point over the seeds and leave soaking for 10-12 hours. The green bird flower can also be propagated from cuttings.

The genus name comes from the Greek ‘crotalon’ meaning ‘rattle’ and the specific epithet is after the botanist Alan Cunningham who discovered the plant in the early nineteenth century.

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