Lotus tenuis

Herbs perennial, 2.5–90 cm, glabrous or glabrate, rarely sparsely strigose at nodes; taprooted. Stems ascending or prostrate, solid, not succulent. Leaves 9–23 mm; rachis 2–6 mm; leaflet blades oblanceolate or lanceolate-obovate to linear, 5–25 × 1–4(–5) mm, length (2.5–)3–5 times width, apex acute or apiculate. Peduncles ascending to erect, (1–)2–12 cm. Inflorescences (1–)3–5(–7)-flowered; bracts 1–3-foliolate. Flowers 7–10 mm; calyx 4–6 mm, lobes not recurved in bud, triangular, 1.5–3 mm, ± equaling or shorter than tube, tube glabrous; petals yellow, sometimes marked with red, turning orange, 8–12 mm, wings slightly longer than keel. Legumes brown, narrowly cylindric, (10–)15–30 × 2–2.5 mm, not septate. Seeds 15–30, yellowish, light to dark brown, or tan, lightly mottled or not, globose to oblong, 1–1.8 mm, smooth to rugose. 2n = 12.

Phenology: Flowering summer.
Habitat: Open disturbed, ruderal sites, usually on heavy, poorly drained soils, sometimes saline.
Elevation: 0–1000 m.

Introduced; B.C., Ont., Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Ind., Kans., La., Md., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.Y., N.C., Oreg., Pa., R.I., Utah, Va., Wash., W.Va., Europe, introduced also in Mexico, South America, Asia.

Discussion

The name Lotus glaber Miller, recently used in the literature for this taxon, is a rejected name.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa