Flora of North America species comparison

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Hosackia gracilis

Hosackia pinnata

harlequin lotus, seaside bird's-foot lotus, seaside bird's-foot-trefoil, seaside lotus, witches teeth

bog bird's-foot lotus, bog bird's-foot trefoil, bog deervetch, meadow bird's-foot-trefoil, meadow deervetch, meadow or bog bird's-foot trefoil, pinnate lotus
Habit Herbs usually low, 10–40 cm, glabrous; stoloniferous or rhizomatous. Herbs usually robust, 15–50 cm, glabrous; rhizomatous, rhizomes spongy-thickened, whitish, rooting at nodes.
Stems

1–20+, often decumbent, sometimes ascending, unbranched, fleshy, base often spongy.

1–5, usually ascending, sometimes decumbent, unbranched or branched, ± fleshy or not.
Leaves

stipules lanceolate-ovate to ovate or deltate, 2–8 mm, ± scarious, fragile; petiolate to long-petiolate;

rachis ± straight, 1–4 cm;

leaflets (3–)5–7, petiolulate, blades elliptic to obovate, 6–20 mm, apex obtuse to emarginate, surfaces glabrous.

stipules ovate, 2–5 mm, scarious; petiolate;

rachis straight, 2–7 cm;

leaflets 5–9(–11), petiolulate, blades usually elliptic to obovate, rarely oblanceolate, (7–)10–25 mm, apex emarginate or rounded to obtuse or acute, surfaces glabrous.
Peduncles

ascending to spreading, 2.3–9 cm, equaling or longer than subtending leaf, elongating in fruit, glabrous;

bract subtending umbel, 1–3(–7)-foliolate.

ascending, (1–)5–10 cm, longer than subtending leaf, elongating in fruit, glabrous;

bract subtending umbel or absent, 1(–3)-foliolate.
Umbels

(2 or)3–9-flowered.

4–10-flowered.
Flowers

10–16 mm;

calyx reddish, 4.5–6 mm, glabrous, tube cylindric, 2.5–4 mm, lobes subulate to narrowly triangular, 2–2.5 mm, eciliate;

corolla banner yellow, wings and keel pale to dark pink, sometimes whitish, wings fading white, keel pink- to purple-tipped, wings ± equaling or longer than keel, claw longer than calyx tube, banner reflexed to 180°, keel apex acute to subacute.

10–15 mm;

calyx reddish, 5.5–7.5 mm, glabrous, tube obconic-cylindric, 4–5 mm, lobes abaxial 3 subulate to lanceolate, adaxial 2 triangular, 1–2 mm, usually eciliate, sometimes sparsely ciliate;

corolla banner and keel yellow, wings white or cream, wings longer than keel, claw longer than calyx tube, banner reflexed to 180°, keel apex subacute.
Legumes

± ascending to ± inclined, brown, oblong, turgid, 20–30 × 2–3 mm, thinly leathery, incompletely septate, glabrous.

± ascending to ± inclined, ± reddish to dark brown, linear-oblong, turgid, 30–50(–85) × 1.5–2.5 mm, thinly leathery, incompletely septate, glabrous.
Seeds

(8–)10–14(–16), olive brown to brown, oblong, 1–1.5 mm.

8–20, olive to reddish or dark brown, oblong, 1.5 mm.
2n

= 14.

= 14.

Hosackia gracilis

Hosackia pinnata
Phenology Flowering spring(–early summer). Flowering spring–early summer.
Habitat Water or springy areas, shores, coastal meadows, wet meadows or woodlands, sphagnum bogs, pastures, roadside ditches, coastal areas. Wet to moist, open areas, springy meadows, bogs, wetlands, springs, streambeds, stream banks, seepages, in water, ditches.
Elevation 0–200(–700) m. (0–700(–2300) ft.) 30–2500 m. (100–8200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Hosackia gracilis reaches its northern limit in southeastern Vancouver Island and adjacent Gulf islands near Victoria, British Columbia (G. W. Douglas and M. Ryan 2006). Southward it follows the coast of Washington (Grays Harbor County), Oregon (with an inland incursion to Lane County), and California (to San Luis Obispo County), with disjunct populations inland in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

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

Hosackia pinnata reaches its northern limit near Nanaimo, southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia (M. Donovan 2006). It ranges southward along the inner foothills of the coastal ranges (avoiding areas of high precipitation) and in the Cascade Range, to the Coast Ranges of California (to Santa Barbara County) and along the Sierra Nevada. Hosackia pinnata is sometimes disjunct inland to eastern Washington and northwestern Idaho and, rarely, in central Oregon.

Hosackia bicolor Douglas ex Bentham and Lotus bicolor Frye & Rigg are both superfluous, illegitimate names that pertain to H. pinnata.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Hosackia Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Hosackia
Sibling taxa
H. alamosana, H. crassifolia, H. incana, H. oblongifolia, H. pinnata, H. rosea, H. stipularis, H. yollabolliensis
H. alamosana, H. crassifolia, H. gracilis, H. incana, H. oblongifolia, H. rosea, H. stipularis, H. yollabolliensis
Synonyms Anisolotus formosissimus, Lotus formosissimus Lotus pinnatus
Name authority Bentham: Trans. Linn. Soc. London 17: 365. (1836) (Hooker) Abrams in L. Abrams and R. S. Ferris: Ill. Fl. Pacific States 2: 541. (1944)
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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