Lotus (genus)

Updated on Nov 25, 2023

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Kingdom Plantae Family Fabaceae Tribe Loteae Higher classification Loteae		Order Fabales Subfamily Faboideae Scientific name Lotus Rank Genus

Lower classifications Lotus corniculatus, Lotus japonicus, Lotus pedunculatus, Lotus berthelotii, Lotus maritimus

Lotus, derived from lota (a small, usually spherical water vessel of brass, copper or plastic used in parts of South Asia), is a genus that includes most bird's-foot trefoils (also known as bacon-and-eggs) and deervetches and contains many dozens of species distributed world-wide. Depending on the taxonomic authority, roughly between 70 and 150 are accepted. Lotus is a genus of legume and its members are adapted to a wide range of habitats, from coastal environments to high altitudes. Most species have leaves with five leaflets; two of these are at the extreme base of the leaf, with the other three at the tip of a naked midrib. This gives the appearance of a pair of large stipules below a "petiole" bearing a trefoil of three leaflets – in fact, the true stipules are minute, soon falling or withering. Some species have pinnate leaves with up to 15 leaflets. The flowers are in clusters of three to ten together at the apex of a stem with some basal leafy bracts; they are pea-flower shaped, usually vivid yellow, but occasionally orange or red. The seeds develop in three or four straight, strongly diverging pods, which together make a shape reminiscent of the diverging toes of a small bird, leading to the common name "bird's-foot".

Lotus (genus) Genus Lotus bird39sfoottrefoil Go Botany

The genus Lotus is currently undergoing extensive taxonomic revision. All species native to California (30 spp.) have been recently moved to the genera Acmispon and Hosackia in the second edition of The Jepson Manual.

Uses and ecology

Lotus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species. Several species are culvivated for forage, including L. corniculatus, L. glaber, and L. pedunculatus. They can produce toxic cyanogenic glycosides which can be potentially toxic to livestock, but also produce tannins, which are a beneficial anti-bloating compound.

Species in this genus can fix nitrogen from the air courtesy of their root nodules, making them useful as a cover crop. The nodulating symbionts are Bradyrhizobium and Mesorhizobium bacteria. Scientific research for crop improvement and understanding the general biology of the genus is focused on Lotus japonicus, which is currently the subject of a full genome sequencing project, and is considered a model organism.

Some species, such as L. berthelotii from the Canary Islands, are grown as ornamental plants. L. corniculatus is an invasive species in some regions of North America and Australia.

Selected species

Lotus aboriginus – rosy bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus aduncus

Lotus alamosanus – synonym of Hosackia alamosana Rose - Sonora bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus alpicola

Lotus alpinus - alpine bird's-foot-trefoil

Lotus angustifolius

Lotus angustissimus – slender bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus anthylloides

Lotus argophyllus – silver bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus argyraeus – canyon bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus australis – austral trefoil

Lotus benthamii – Bentham's deervetch or Bentham's broom

Lotus berthelotii – Canary Islands trefoil

Lotus cedrosensis

Lotus corniculatus – common bird's-foot trefoil, bird's-foot deervetch

Lotus crassifolius – big deervetch, Broad-leaved bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus creticus

Lotus dendroideus – Island deervetch

Lotus denticulatus – riverbar bird's-foot trefoil, meadow bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus glaber – see L. tenuis

Lotus grandiflorus – chaparral bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus greenei – Greene's bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus hamatus – San Diego bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus haydonii – rock bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus heermannii – Heermann's bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus humistratus – foothill deervetch

Lotus incanus – woolly bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus intricatus – arid bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus jacobaeus

Lotus japonicus

Lotus junceus – rush deervetch

Lotus maculatus

Lotus maritimus

Lotus mearnsii – Mearns' bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus micranthus – desert deervetch

Lotus mollis

Lotus nevadensis – Nevada bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus nuttallianus – wire bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus oblongifolius – streambank bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus ononopsis

Lotus ornithopoides

Lotus palustris

Lotus parviflorus – smallflower bird's-foot trefoil, smallflower trefoil

Lotus pinnatus – meadow bird's-foot trefoil, bog bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus plebeius – New Mexico bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus procumbens – silky deerweed

Lotus purshianus – Spanish clover

Lotus rigidus – desert rock pea, shrubby deervetch

Lotus rubriflorus – redflower bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus salsuginosus – coastal bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus scoparius – common deerweed, common deervetch, California broom, western bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus sessilifolius

Lotus stipularis – balsam bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus strigosus – strigose bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus subbiflorus – hairy bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus tenuis – narrowleaf trefoil, narrow-leaved bird's-foot-trefoil slender trefoil, creeping trefoil, or prostrate trefoil

Lotus tetragonolobus – winged bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus unifoliolatus – American bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus pedunculatus – greater bird's-foot trefoil, marsh bird's-foot trefoil, large bird's-foot trefoil, big trefoil; formerly L. uliginosus.

Lotus utahensis – Utah bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus wrangelianus – Chilean bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus wrightii – Wright's deervetch

Lotus yollabolliensis – Yolla Bolly bird's-foot trefoil

References

Lotus (genus) Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

Contents

Uses and ecology

Selected species

References