rattlebox
- noun
- /ˈrætəlˌbɑks/
- Specialized
- In the southeastern United States, cattle tend to avoid grazing on the foliage and showy yellow blossoms of the rattlebox plant.
- rattlebox plant
- rattlebox's chief alkaloid
Examples
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Eisner and colleagues headed for central Florida, where the rattlebox plant, a member of the genus Crotalaria, which is in the pea family, flourishes.
Academic text (1999) -
Once they become moths, the males retain a trace of the rattlebox plant's alkaloid.
Academic text (1999) -
Might Utetheisa's immunity to the alkaloids shed light on how to protect mammals from rattlebox poisoning?
Academic text (1999) -
It turns out that monocrotaline and comparable alkaloids, as they exist in the rattlebox plant, are not toxins per se.
Academic text (1999) -
Because captive-bred females are not fortified with the rattlebox's chief alkaloid, monocrotaline, the investigators supplied the compound to their subjects in various ways.
Academic text (1999) -
The rattlebox's active ingredient builds up in the caterpillar's tissues and, instead of poisoning the bug, renders it invulnerable to hungry spiders.
Academic text (1999) -
But, in an odd turnabout, in most animals—although not in rattlebox moths—these alkaloids become toxic when passing through an enzyme system.
Academic text (1999) -
Cattle tend to avoid grazing on the foliage and bright yellow flowers of the rattlebox plant in the southeastern United States.
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Farmers grow rattlebox as a cover crop to improve soil health and provide pasture for grazing animals.
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In many regions, people appreciate the rattlebox plant for its unique pods that make a rattling sound when shaken.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A plant with seed pods that rattle, often grown to feed animals or improve soil
A tropical plant with dry pods that rattle when seeds move
A tropical flowering plant from the Americas with colorful flowers and pods whose seeds rattle when shaken
A small bush from India with purple flowers and a dry seed pod that rattles when shaken
Compounds
A tropical flowering plant from the Americas with colorful flowers and pods whose seeds rattle when shaken
- Indian
A small bush from India with purple flowers and a dry seed pod that rattles when shaken
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Rattlebox is a simple compound of rattle and box, named for the plant's dry seed pods that shake and make a 'rattle' like a little box of seeds. The plant's scientific name Crotalaria also comes from a Greek word for 'rattle', so the name points to the same noisy pods.