Kingdom Plantae Family Fabaceae Tribe Loteae Scientific name Lotus dendroideus Rank Species | Order Fabales Subfamily Faboideae Genus Lotus Higher classification Trefoil | |
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Similar Acmispon argophyllus, Trefoil, Lotus grandiflorus, Acmispon heermannii, Legumes | ||
Lotus dendroideus is a species of legume known by the common name island broom. It is endemic to the Channel Islands of California, where it grows on coastal bluffs and cliffs. It is a spreading perennial herb or erect shrub approaching 2 meters in height. It is hairless to hairy and gray-green in color. The branches lined with leaves each made up of a few oval leaflike leaflets up to 1.5 centimeters long each. The inflorescence bears up to 10 yellow pealike flowers, each roughly a centimeter long and fading red as they age.
There are three varieties of this species. The rarest, var. traskiae, the San Clemente Island broom or San Clemente Island lotus, is limited to San Clemente Island. It is treated federally as an endangered species. In the 1990s the Navy removed goats from San Clemente Island and started a management program to benefit this species. Due to the management efforts for this species, it has increased from just 9 occurrences at the time of listing to over 150 populations consisting of over 10,000 individuals. In 2007 the US Fish & Wildlife Service recommended it be downlisted from endangered to threatened status.