(nat) Fuzzy rattlepod, kukaehoki, ko- lomona (Niihau)
Erect annual or suffrutescent perennial herbs; stems 2.5-13.3 dm long, weakly striate, usually spreading long-pubescent. Leaves trifoliolate, leaflets elliptic, ovate, or obovate, 1-7 cm long, 0.6-4.4 cm wide, veins 3-6 on each side of midvein, both surfaces usually spreading long-pubescent, apex rounded, often retuse or mucronate, base rounded or broadly cuneate, petioles 20-80 mm long, stipules triangular, 3-8 mm long, persistent or caducous. Flowers 8.5-mm long, 5-30 in leaf-opposed or terminal, lax to crowded inflorescences, rachis 5-23 cm long (incl. peduncle), bracts linear- triangular, 2-8 mm long, pendent, caducous or persistent, bracteoles at apex of pedicel, linear to filiform; calyx usually spreading long-pubescent, the tube 1.5-3 mm long, the lobes 4.5-12 mm long, lateral lobes distinct at apex; petals yellow, with age with red or brown lines near base, standard 8.5-16 mm long, 5-11.6 mm wide, wings oblong, 7-13 mm long, 2.5-5 mm wide, keel petals with nontwisted short beak, margins lanate; elongated anthers 1.5-2.5 mm long, short ones 0.5-0.9 mm long. Pods tan or dark brown at maturity, 3.9 cm long, nonstipitate, spreading long-pubescent. Seeds ca. 40 per pod, brown or black, 1.8-3 mm long, smooth. [2n = 14, 16.] Widespread in the tropics and subtropics; in Hawaii naturalized in disturbed areas such as roadsides, pastures, and agricultural land, 0-410 m, on Midway Atoll and all of the main islands except Molokai. First collected on 0‘ahu in 1895 (Heller 1966, BISH).—Plate 89.
This species can be easily recognized by its deeply cleft calyx, pod pubescence, and leaves that fold longitudinally during wilt or sleep movements. According to the label on Pukui s.n. (BISH), this species also was called auauloi, aukoi, and pikakani, and was used medicinally.