Flora of North America species comparison

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Acmispon denticulatus

Acmispon micranthus

meadow birds-foot trefoil, meadow lotus, Mohave trefoil, riverbar bird's-foot-trefoil, riverbar lotus, riverbar trefoil, tooth lotus

San Diego bird's-foot trefoil, small flower lotus
Habit Herbs, annual, cespitose, often glaucous, 0.3–4 dm, not fleshy, glabrous or hirsute; taprooted. Herbs annual, cespitose, prostrate, green, 1–8 dm, not fleshy, glabrous or ± villosulous; taprooted.
Stems

1(–5), decumbent to erect, apically or basally coarse-branched, herbaceous, leafy.

1–10+, procumbent to ascending, unbranched, herbaceous, leafy.
Leaves

subpinnate, pinnate, or palmate;

stipules glandlike or absent; petiolate;

rachis 5–12 mm, flattened;

leaflets 2–4, often 1 or 2 on one side and 2 terminal, blades elliptic to obovate (lateral sometimes asymmetric), margins denticulate or entire, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces hirsute.

irregularly pinnate or palmate;

stipules glandlike or absent; short-petiolate to subsessile;

rachis 4–8 mm, sometimes flattened;

leaflets 4–6, often 2 on one side and 2 terminal, blades obovate to elliptic, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces ± villous.
Inflorescences

1 or 2-flowered.

2–5-flowered.
Peduncles

± sessile;

bract absent.

ascending, 1–2(–5) mm, shorter than leaves;

bract absent.
Flowers

5–8 mm;

calyx 3–5 mm, tube hirsute or glabrous, lobes subulate, ± denticulate;

corolla cream-white to pale yellow, banner purple-tinged, keel tip yellowish, claws shorter to slightly longer than calyx tube, banner ascending, wings ± equaling keel, with deep, triangular auricle;

style curved, glabrous.

3–4(–5) mm;

calyx 1–1.5(–2.5) mm, tube strigillose to villosulous, lobes subulate;

corolla yellowish, claws shorter than calyx tube, banner implicate-ascending, wings shorter than keel;

style abruptly incurved 90°, strigillose.
Legumes

persistent, solitary or paired, exserted, erect or spreading, tawny, straight, compressed, slightly constricted, not septate, widely oblong, 8–20 × 3 mm, leathery, apex abruptly downward angled and curved, dehiscent, smooth, margins often undulate-verrucose, strigose or glabrous.

persistent, strongly exserted, widely spreading or reflexed, tawny, arched, turgid, constricted, not septate, linear, 10–15 × 1–2 mm, leathery, apex tapering, long hook-beaked, indehiscent, veined, margins keeled, smooth, strigillose (also on beak).
Seeds

(2 or)3(or 4), gray, faintly mottled, asymmetrically ± angular-obovoid, flattened, smooth.

2, olive green, mottled, ± curved, cylindric, smooth.
2n

= 12.

= 14.

Acmispon denticulatus

Acmispon micranthus
Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering (late winter–)spring(–early summer).
Habitat Grassy slopes, meadows, prairies, clearings, gravel bars, stream banks, vernal pools, pastures, grainfields, usually sandy soils, sometimes alkali, clay, or serpentine soils, roadsides. Coastal scrub, mesas, desert canyons, washes, disturbed areas, dry, gravelly plains and hillsides, prairies, roadsides.
Elevation 0–1900 m. (0–6200 ft.) 0–600 m. (0–2000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; OR; UT; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Acmispon denticulatus occurs in California from the San Francisco Bay area, Sacramento Valley, and northern Sierra Nevada Foothills to the northwest, Cascade Range and Modoc Plateau, into adjacent southern Oregon (Siskiyou and Klamath regions), northward on both sides of the Cascade Range into southern British Columbia, with eastern outliers in southwestern Utah (Washington County), and in south-central Idaho (Lincoln County).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Acmispon micranthus occurs in the southern South Coast Ranges, the South Coast, the Channel Islands, and the Peninsular Ranges.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Acmispon Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Acmispon
Sibling taxa
A. americanus, A. argophyllus, A. argyraeus, A. brachycarpus, A. cytisoides, A. decumbens, A. dendroideus, A. glaber, A. grandiflorus, A. haydonii, A. intricatus, A. junceus, A. maritimus, A. mearnsii, A. micranthus, A. neomexicanus, A. parviflorus, A. plebeius, A. procumbens, A. prostratus, A. rigidus, A. rubriflorus, A. strigosus, A. tomentosus, A. utahensis, A. wrangelianus, A. wrightii
A. americanus, A. argophyllus, A. argyraeus, A. brachycarpus, A. cytisoides, A. decumbens, A. dendroideus, A. denticulatus, A. glaber, A. grandiflorus, A. haydonii, A. intricatus, A. junceus, A. maritimus, A. mearnsii, A. neomexicanus, A. parviflorus, A. plebeius, A. procumbens, A. prostratus, A. rigidus, A. rubriflorus, A. strigosus, A. tomentosus, A. utahensis, A. wrangelianus, A. wrightii
Synonyms Hosackia denticulata, Anisolotus denticulatus, Lotus denticulatus Hosackia micrantha, Lotus hamatus, Syrmatium micranthum
Name authority (Drew) D. D. Sokoloff: Ann. Bot. Fenn. 37: 130. (2000) (Torrey & A. Gray) Brouillet: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 2: 391. (2008)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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