E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Hosackia pinnata (Hooker) Abrams
bog bird's-foot trefoil (bog birds-foot trefoil; meadow bird's-foot trefoil)
Fabaceae (Pea family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Gary Ansell  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #25104)

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Distribution of Hosackia pinnata
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial herb from a thick taproot and short rhizome; stems solitary, sprawling to erect, 15-60 cm long, hollow, glabrous or sparsely stiff-hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound, 4-8 cm long, stalked; leaflets 5 to 9, elliptic to egg-shaped, 1-2.5 cm long; stipules membranous, narrowly egg-shaped, 3-10 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a compact, stalked, axillary umbel of 3 to 12 pea-like flowers, the umbel-stalks bractless or with a single membranous bract beneath the umbel; corollas 10-15 mm long, the banner and keel yellow, the wings cream; calyces 4-8 mm long, the tube 2-lipped, the upper pair of teeth lance-triangular, the lower 3 awl-shaped, all much shorter than the tube.
Fruits:
Pods, linear, 3-6 cm long, glabrous; seeds 5 to 20.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Wet to moist meadows, streambanks and clearings in the lowland zone; rare on SE Vancouver Island, known from only two collections at Ladysmith and Nanaimo; S to ID and CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Lotus pinnatus Hook.
Lotus pinnatus Hook.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References