Chipilin (Crotalaria longirostrata)

General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit:	Herb/Forb
Life cycle:	Perennial
Sun Requirements:	Full Sun Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences:	Mesic Dry Mesic
Soil pH Preferences:	Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5) Neutral (6.6 – 7.3)
Plant Height:	3-5 feet
Leaves:	Evergreen
Fruit:	Dehiscent Other: Inflated cylindrical pod containing up to 20 small seeds.
Fruiting Time:	Late summer or early fall Fall Late fall or early winter
Flowers:	Showy
Flower Color:	Yellow
Bloom Size:	Under 1"
Flower Time:	Summer Late summer or early fall Fall
Uses:	Culinary Herb Vegetable Cooked greens Will Naturalize Suitable as Annual
Edible Parts:	Leaves
Eating Methods:	Culinary Herb/Spice Raw Cooked
Dynamic Accumulator:	Nitrogen fixer
Wildlife Attractant:	Bees Birds Butterflies
Resistances:	Drought tolerant
Toxicity:	Roots are poisonous Other: Seeds are poisonous
Containers:	Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
Miscellaneous:	Tolerates poor soil

Common names

Chipilin
Longbeak Rattlebox
Chepil

Photo Gallery

Location: Savannah, Georgia, USA
Date: 2014-02-18

Uploaded by greene

Location: Savannah, GA, USA
Date: 2014-10-22

Uploaded by greene

Uploaded by greene

Uploaded by greene

Location: Savannah, Georgia (my neighbor's garden)
Date: 2017-Sept 17
Leaves of the Chipilin plant

Uploaded by greene

Location: Savannah, Georgia (my neighbor's garden)
Date: 2017 Sept 17
This patch of Chipilin grows more than 6 feet tall.

Uploaded by greene

Location: Savannah, GA, USA
Date: 2014-10-01

Uploaded by greene

Location: Savannah, GA, USA
Date: 2014-08-11
Grown from cuttings.

Uploaded by greene

Location: Savannah, Georgia, USA (my garden)
Date: 2015-Aug-9
This plant overwintered in a pot; came back and grew to 5+ feet t

Uploaded by greene

Uploaded by greene

Comments:

Posted by dbrawner (Daufuskie Island SC - Zone 8b) on Aug 30, 2014 1:47 PM concerning plant:

Over 4 times the protein compared to spinach.
Crotalaria longirostrata = 4.1g per 1/2 cup
Spinach = .45 per 1/2 cup

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Posted by greene (Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) - Zone 8b) on Jul 4, 2014 1:32 PM concerning plant:

This plant is common in kitchen gardens in southern Mexico and Central America. If you live where the growing season is short, start from seeds indoors as you would tomatoes or peppers and transplant when your weather warms. This plant can be a perennial, but if your area has frost/freezing temperatures, grow this as an annual. Deadhead or remove seeds to prevent volunteer plants as this can become somewhat invasive in warmer climates. Outlawed in Hawaii and Australia. The leaves are the edible portion; cook before consuming.

Reply to this comment
Posted by greene (Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) - Zone 8b) on Oct 12, 2015 10:01 PM concerning plant:

When I first rescued seeds for this plant I did not know anything about it, only that my neighbor, who is from Guatemala, said it is good to eat and called it Chipilin. In the past I knew that members of the Crotalaria family are very pretty, they can become weeds, and many are poisonous. I would not advise anyone to eat any part of a plant without a correct identification.

Continuing research tells me that there are other Crotalaria plants used as food:
C. vitellina and C. pumila, called Chiplin or sometimes Chipil/Chepil, are eaten in Guatemala;
C. ochroleuca, also called Sunnhemp/Sun Hemp, and C. glauca are eaten in parts of Africa;
C. juncea, also called Sunnhemp/Sun Hemp, is eaten in India and Bangladesh.

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Plant Events from our members
greene	On January 9, 2017	Miscellaneous Event Watching the Chipilin/Crotalaria longirostrata in my neighbor's garden. We had a low temperature of 29 degrees and the unprotected plants were killed to the ground. The growing season in this area usually does not allow enough days for the plants to produce seed.

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Crotalaria Chipilin (Crotalaria longirostrata)

Crotalaria
Chipilin (Crotalaria longirostrata)