Lotus strigosus var. tomentellus – Strigose Bird's-foot Trefoil

Lotus strigosus var. tomentellus - Strigose Bird's-foot Trefoil, Green's Desert Deervetch

Lotus strigosus var. tomentellus - Strigose Bird's-foot Trefoil, Green's Desert Deervetch

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Lotus strigosus var. tomentellus

Synonyms: Hosackia tomentella, Lotus intricatus, L. tomentellus

Common Names: Strigose Bird's-foot Trefoil, Green's Desert Deervetch

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert. This tiny wildflower grows in open gravelly and rocky areas.

Flower Color: Yellow

Flowering Season: Spring

Height: To 1 inch (2.5 cm) tall and 1 foot (30 cm) wide

Description: The flowers are tiny and pea-like. The leaves are green, tomentose (densely or lightly covered in matted, woolly hairs), and pinnate with plump, thick, partly folded, often red-edged leaflets. The stems are hairy, branched, and prostrate. The plants form mats on the ground.

The similar Foothill Deervetch (Lotus humistratus) is also mat-forming, but it has much thinner, non-folded leaves.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae – Pea family
Genus: Lotus L. – trefoil
Species: Lotus strigosus (Nutt.) Greene – strigose bird's-foot trefoil
Variety: Lotus strigosus (Nutt.) Greene var. tomentellus (Greene) Isely – strigose bird's-foot trefoil

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map