Family |
Fabaceae
Lotus corniculatus
L.
Lotus corniculatus L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 775 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 307, Pl. CXVI, 3; 1970)
Description
Life-form & habit: Perennial with ascending stems, 20–40 cm tall, hairless or sparsely hairy.
Leaves: More or less stalked, with obovate-oblong leaflets.
Inflorescence & flowers: Long, slightly thickened stalks carry 2–5 flowers, 8–12 mm long. Calyx teeth equal and triangular, with variable hairiness. Corolla yellow, sometimes tinged brick-red; standard rounded, wings strongly curved, and keel bent at a right angle with a pointed tip.
Fruit: Linear pods, 2.5–3 cm long, only slightly flattened and sometimes thickened at the tip.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: April–August or later, in Mouterde’s broader treatment.
Habitat & elevation: Mouterde distinguishes persistent plants from former cultivation outside the mountains from the spontaneous mountain plants he places in var. alpinus.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Chtaura, Deir Zenoun near Zahle and Taanayel, recorded by Mouterde as survivors of former cultivation.
Syrian distribution: Damascus and Homs, likewise cited outside the mountain variety.
Recorded locations: Kornet Chehwan.
Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Central European Russia, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, East Himalaya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Føroyar, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Gulf States, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Krasnoyarsk, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sudan-South Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, West Himalaya, West Siberia, Yemen.
Introduced into: Alabama, Amsterdam-St.Paul Is., Argentina Northwest, Arkansas, Brazil South, Buryatiya, California, Cape Provinces, Chile Central, Chile South, Colombia, Colorado, Costa Rica, Falkland Is., Iceland, Idaho, Illinois, Japan, Kentucky, Khabarovsk, Korea, Labrador, Maryland, Mexico Northwest, Minnesota, Mongolia, Nevada, New Mexico, New South Wales, New Zealand South, Newfoundland, Northern Provinces, Oman, Oregon, Primorye, South Australia, South Georgia, St.Helena, Tasmania, Tennessee, Tristan da Cunha, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Venezuela, Victoria, Washington, Wisconsin.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Mouterde includes var. alpinus and var. brachyodon within L. corniculatus; Kew treats both under the separate accepted species L. alpinus. The mountain localities assigned to those varieties are therefore not transferred here. Kew marks occurrence in Tadzhikistan as doubtful.