TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

FABACEAE

LEGUME FAMILY

Annual to tree
Leaves generally compound, alternate, stipuled; leaflets generally entire
Inflorescence: generally raceme, spike, umbel or head; flowers sometime 1–2 in axils
Flowers generally bisexual, generally bilateral; hypanthium generally flat or cup-like; sepals generally 5, fused; petals generally 5, free, or the 2 lower ± fused; stamens 1–many, often 10 with 9 filaments at least partly fused, 1 (uppermost) free; pistil 1, ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, ovules 1–many, style, stigma 1
Fruit: legume, sometimes including a stalk-like base above receptacle, dehiscent, or indehiscent and breaking into 1-seeded segments, or indehiscent, 1-seeded, and achene-like
Seeds 1–several, often ± reniform, generally hard, smooth
Genera in family: ± 650 genera, 18,000 species: worldwide; with grasses, requisite in agriculture and most natural ecosystems. Many cultivated, most importantly Arachis , peanut; Glycine , soybean; Phaseolus , beans; Medicago ; Trifolium ; and many orns. [Polhill & Raven (eds) 1981 Advances in legume systematics; Allen & Allen 1981 Leguminosae] Family description and key to genera by Duane Isely.

LOTUS

Duane Isely

Annual, perennial herb, shrub, unarmed
Leaves generally odd-1-pinnate (sometimes ± palmately compound, rarely some or most simple); stipules conspicuous or not; leaflets 3–many, often irregularly arranged
Inflorescence: umbel or 1–2-flowered, axillary, generally peduncled, often bracted
Flower: corolla generally yellow (sometimes white or pink), fading darker; 9 filaments fused, 1 free
Fruit dehiscent or not, exserted from calyx or not, ovoid to oblong, ± beaked
Seeds 1–several
Etymology: (Greek: derivation unclear)
Reference: [Isely 1981 Mem New York Bot Garden 25:128–206]
Spp. generally variable; intermediates may be hybrids. Key below separates natural groups.

Native

L. strigosus (Nutt.) Greene

Annual, often fleshy, hairy or not
Stem prostrate, generally branched from base
Leaf: stipules gland-like; leaflets 4–9, generally alternate, 3–10 mm, oblanceolate to obovate; axis ± flat, ± blade-like
Inflorescence 1–2-flowered; peduncle generally bracted
Flower: calyx 3–5.5 mm, lobes < tube; corolla opening or not, 5–10 mm, yellow, turning orange or reddish, wings generally > keel; stigma puberulent
Fruit dehiscent, 1–3.5 cm, generally ± curved only at or near tip
Seeds several
Chromosomes: 2n=14
Ecology: Coastal scrub, chaparral, foothills, deserts, roadsides, other disturbed areas
Elevation: < 2300 m.
Bioregional distribution: Great Central Valley, Central Western California, Southwestern California, Desert
Distribution outside California: Arizona, Mexico
Flowering time: Mar–Jun
Synonyms: var. hirtellus (E. Green) Ottley; L. tomentellus Greene
Several variants often recognized (see Isely, pp. 193–198); plants in CA-FP generally ± strigose, with narrow leaflets; plants in D fleshy, generally canescent, with wide leaflets. Conspicuous in spring.