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 Leaves Frankie Coburn @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Leaf Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Perennial Similar Species: Lotus wrightii
General Desc:
Perennial herb from a woody taproot, has several stems from the base that are upright or laying flat with many branches. Herbage covered with white, straight, flat hairs. Yellow flowers in clusters of 3 to 12 flowers which are pea-flower shaped.
Identification notes: Many stemmed perennial; mostly appressed hairs throughout; nearly stemless leaves with 3 to 5 leaflets; stalks below inflorescences longer than leaves; fruit pods less than 1/8 inch wide. L. wrightii which is similar has truly palmate leaves.
Height:
6 to 14 inches
Habitat Description: Found on slopes, mesas, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and ponderosa pine forests, in sandy to gravelly soils.
Plant Communities:
Interior Chaparral, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest
Elevation: 2500 - 7500 feet
Color:
Yellow
Shape:
Irregular in round clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
Jun - Sep
Description:
Flowers in clusters of 3 to 12 on stalks from leaf axils, pea-flower shaped, 1/2 inch long; 5 sepals fused into a tube 1/8 inch long, topped with 5 linear lance-like teeth, 1/16 to 1/3 inch long; petals 1/2 inch long, the banner sometimes tinged red.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Compound
Leaf Shape:
Narrow
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
3 to 5 leaflets per leaf with almost no stem; leaflets are lance-like, 1/8 to 1 inch long and 1/16 to 1/4 inch wide.
Fruit Type: Pod
Fruit Notes: Pods linear, 3/4 to 1 inch long and 1/4 inch wide, straight or slightly curved near the tip, sparsely covered with white, straight, flat hairs; containing 6 to 12 seeds.
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