Lotus subbiflorus
Lotus
hairy bird's-foot trefoil
bird's foot trefoil, lotier, lotus, trefoil
erect to decumbent, solid, not succulent.
prostrate or decumbent to ascending or erect, glabrous or pubescent.
8–15[–25] mm;
rachis 2–4 mm;
leaflet blades: basal 2 ovate, terminal 3 obovate to oblong or lanceolate, 5–10[–20] × 1–5.5[–8] mm, length 2–4 times width, apex acute to obtuse, often mucronate.
alternate, odd-pinnate;
stipules present, glandlike;
petiolate;
leaflets 5, proximal pair stipular in position, distal 3 ± palmate, blade margins entire, surfaces glabrous or pubescent.
(1 or)2–4(–6)-flowered;
bracts 3-foliolate.
1–15-flowered, axillary, umbels or solitary flowers;
bracts present, 1–3-foliolate.
ascending to declined, 0.7–3[–15] cm.
5.5–7[–10] mm;
calyx 3.3–4.7 mm, lobes not recurved in bud, linear, 2.5–3.2 mm, longer than tube, tube hirsute;
petals yellow, turning reddish, 5–6.7[–10] mm, wings shorter than angled and beaked keel.
papilionaceous;
calyx symmetric, bell-shaped or short-cylindric, lobes 5;
corolla yellow, usually marked with red, (4–)5–13(–18) mm, keel equaling or longer than symmetrically positioned wings;
stamens 10, diadelphous;
anthers dorsifixed;
ovary sessile or ± stipitate;
stigma without collar.
legumes, persistent, exserted from calyx, sessile, straight, body not deflexed, linear to narrowly oblong or cylindric, subterete to quadrate, beak slender, dehiscent, leathery, glabrous.
brown, cylindric, 7–10 × 0.7–1.2 mm, not or partially septate.
8–10, brown to greenish brown, ± mottled, globose to round-oblong, 1 mm, smooth.
(5–)10–35, mottled or not, globose to oblong or round-oblong.
= 6.
= 12, 24 (Europe).
Lotus subbiflorus
Lotus
Lotus subbiflorus is easily distinguished by its very hirsute foliage and its sharply angled, beaked keel that is longer than the wings.
The introduced Lotus subbiflorus was collected first in 2009 at four locations in Curry County. The taxon is introduced elsewhere in the world, reported under the names L. hispidus, L. subbiflorus, or L. suaevolens (R. P. Randall 2002); when plotted worldwide, reports of L. hispidus and L. subbiflorus have similar overall distributions. Thus, it seems that in areas outside the native range, only a single entity is present that should be called L. subbiflorus.
The name Lotus hispidus Desfontaines (1804) was considered an invalid name by T. E. Kramina (2006). Kramina, however, appears to have been unaware of the subsequent validation of the name by de Candolle: L. hispidus Desfontaines ex de Candolle in J. Lamarck and A. P. de Candolle, Fl. Franç. ed. 3, 4: 556. 17 Sep 1805. The exact publication date of the name L. subbiflorus by Lagasca, however, is not known, but it may have been late in 1805 because Varied. Ci. 2(4) has 6 numbers (19–24) that were issued in 1805, and the name was published in number 22. Without an exact date for that publication, it is not possible to decide which name has priority, and currently the name L. subbiflorus is adopted for the species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species ca. 125 (6 in the flora).
Morphological and molecular analyses (G. J. Allan et al. 2003; G. V. Degtjareva et al. 2008) have shown that the Eurasian members of Lotus are distinct from the North American Acmispon and Hosackia. Therefore, Lotus is here defined in its strict sense. Lotus species have been introduced to North America as forage crops and for roadbank stabilization.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Herbs annual, hirsute. | → 2 |
2. Calyx tubes villous; legumes 12–30 × 1–2 mm. | L. angustissimus |
2. Calyx tubes hirsute; legumes 7–10 × 0.7–1.2 mm. | L. subbiflorus |
1. Herbs annual or perennial, glabrous, glabrate, or sparsely pilose to strigose. | → 3 |
3. Inflorescences 1(or 2)[–4]-flowered. | L. krylovii |
3. Inflorescences (1–)3–15-flowered. | → 4 |
4. Inflorescences (4–)5–15-flowered; calyx lobes spreading or recurved in bud; herbs with conspicuous rhizome; stems hollow, glabrate to sparsely pilose. | L. uliginosus |
4. Inflorescences (1–)3–8(–10)-flowered; calyx lobes not recurved in bud; herbs taprooted (except rarely rhizomatous in L. corniculatus); stems solid, glabrous, glabrate, or sparsely pilose to strigose. | → 5 |
5. Leaflet blade lengths 1.6–3(–4) times widths; flowers 10–17 mm. | L. corniculatus |
5. Leaflet blade lengths (2.5–)3–5 times widths; flowers 7–10 mm. | L. tenuis |
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