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

Lotus unifoliolatus (Hook.) Benth.
bird's-foot trefoil (American bird's-foot trefoil; Small-flowered Birds-foot Trefoil; Spanish-clover)
Fabaceae (Pea family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Adolf Ceska  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #25614)

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Distribution of Lotus unifoliolatus
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Species Information

General:
Annual herb from a taproot, finely soft-hairy throughout; stems 1 to several, decumbent to erect, 10-60 cm long/tall.
Leaves:
Alternate, nearly unstalked, pinnately compound; leaflets mostly 3, lanceolate to elliptic, 6-25 mm long; stipules gland-like.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of single pea-like flowers on stalks from the leaf axils, the stalks 5-30 mm long, with a small simple bract just below the flower; corollas pale yellow tinged with pink, 4-9 mm long; calyces 3-6 mm long, the awl-shaped teeth longer than the tube.
Fruits:
Pods, 1.5-3.5 cm long, slightly constricted between the seeds, glabrous, spreading or drooping; seeds 4 to 8, slightly flattened, brownish, black-mottled.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Wet to moist meadows, clearings and roadsides in the lowland and montane zones; rare in SW and SC BC; S to MN, MO, MT, CA and N MX.

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.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References