Flora of North America species comparison

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Acmispon denticulatus

Acmispon rubriflorus

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

red-flower bird's-foot trefoil, red-flower deervetch or trefoil
Habit Herbs, annual, cespitose, often glaucous, 0.3–4 dm, not fleshy, glabrous or hirsute; taprooted. Herbs, annual, cespitose, greenish, 0.4–0.9 dm, not fleshy, villous; taprooted.
Stems

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

1–5+, decumbent to ascending, branched basally, 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, barely visible;

subsessile;

rachis 4–6 mm, flattened;

leaflets 4, 2 on one side and 2 terminal, blades lanceolate, sometimes asymmetric apex acute, surfaces villous.
Inflorescences

1 or 2-flowered.

1-flowered.
Peduncles

± sessile;

bract absent.

± sessile;

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.

5–8 mm;

calyx 1.5–5 mm, tube villous, lobes subulate, acuminate;

corolla bright pinkish red, claws shorter than calyx tube, banner implicate-ascending, wings ± equaling keel;

style curved or geniculate, glabrous.
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, mostly included, erect, stramineous, straight, compressed, slightly constricted, not septate, broadly oblong, 8–9 × 2.5 mm, papery, apex obtuse, dehiscent, smooth, margins smooth, keeled, villous.
Seeds

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

2–4, olive green to brownish, ± mottled, ± lenticular, semilustrous, smooth to rugose.
2n

= 12.

Acmispon denticulatus

Acmispon rubriflorus
Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering spring.
Habitat Grassy slopes, meadows, prairies, clearings, gravel bars, stream banks, vernal pools, pastures, grainfields, usually sandy soils, sometimes alkali, clay, or serpentine soils, roadsides. Open, oak woodlands, grasslands.
Elevation 0–1900 m. (0–6200 ft.) 100–500 m. (300–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; OR; UT; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[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 rubriflorus is known only from Colusa, Stanislaus, and Tehama counties.

(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. micranthus, A. neomexicanus, A. parviflorus, A. plebeius, A. procumbens, A. prostratus, A. rigidus, A. strigosus, A. tomentosus, A. utahensis, A. wrangelianus, A. wrightii
Synonyms Hosackia denticulata, Anisolotus denticulatus, Lotus denticulatus Lotus rubriflorus
Name authority (Drew) D. D. Sokoloff: Ann. Bot. Fenn. 37: 130. (2000) (Sharsmith) D. D. Sokoloff: Ann. Bot. Fenn. 37: 130. (2000)
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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