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
bog bird's-foot trefoil (bog birds-foot trefoil; meadow bird's-foot trefoil)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
© Gary Ansell (Photo ID #25104)
Species Information
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.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Habitat and 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.Status Information
| Origin Status | Provincial Status | BC List (Red Blue List) | COSEWIC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native | S2? | Red | E (May 2004) |
BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer.
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Lotus pinnatus Hook.
Lotus pinnatus Hook.