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L., Sp. PL ed. 1 (1753) 277; Gen. Pl. ed. 5 (1754) 338; Brand, Bot. Jahrb. XXV (1898) 166; W. Grant, Canad. Journ. Gen. Cytol. VII (1965) 457; Harney et W. Grant, op. c. 40; W. Grant et Sidhu, Can. Journ. Bot. XLV (1967) 639

Fam:   Leguminosae Juss. (Fabaceae)
Genus:  Lotus L.
English Name: Bird's-foot trefoils, Bacon-and-eggs, Deervetches

Description:

Annual or perennial herbaceous plants or woodened at the base small semi bushes, or bare fiber without spines. Leaves imparipinnate. Leaflets 5 (4), entire or serrated, lower two approximated to the base of the leaf axis resembling stipule (rarely one of them missing). Stipule small, webbed-like, glands or undeveloped. The flowers single or gathered in of head inflorescences with stems in the bosom of the leaves. Calyx pipe-like bell-shaped or bell-shaped, correct or bilabial, teeth shorter, equal to or longer than tube. Corolla yellow, red or purple, incorrectly, five leaf. Stamens 9 +1, fused, anthers uniform. Ovary goal or fibrous. Beans cylindrical linear, straight or curved, not pinch or unclear pinch, with a cross-section circular or elliptical, many seeds, naked or fibrous, break out into blossom. Seeds lenticular, smooth, without appendage. Pollinating insects are propagated by seed.
. Economic importance. Most species are valuable forage; some developing successfully in dry stony terrain or other marshy saline soils. Honey, some have decorative qualities.

Table for determining the species 1    A flag white or pale yellow; nail 3 - 4 times longer than the plate. Teeth shorter than tube calyx ...................... 6. - L. strictus Fisch. et C. A. Meyer 1* A flag intense yellow, reddish purple to rarely pale yellow, but then the teeth to 2 times longer than the tube of the cup; nail shorter or equal to the plate ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2 2    The stem hollow. Flowers 6 - 12 (15) in inflorescence .................................................................................................. 3. - L. uliginosus Schkuhr. 2*  The stem thick. Flowers 2 - 7 in the inflorescence .......................................................................................................................... ..................... 3 3   Corolla (18.0) 22.0 - 25.0 mm long. Beans on top with awn up to 8.0 mm long .......................... ............................. 4. - L. aegeus (Griseb.) Boiss. 3* Corolla (6.0) 10.0 - 12.0 (15.0) mm long. Beans atop short pointed ..................................................................................................................... 4 4  Annual or biennial plant. The teeth of the calyx up to 1.5 times longer than the tube ............................................................ 5 . - L. angustissimus L. 4* A perennial plant. The teeth of the calyx shorter, equal or barely longer than tube ……..................................................................................…… 5 5    The teeth of the calyx usually shorter or equal to the tube. Leaflets of upper leaves linear to linear lanceolate, at least (3) 4 times longer than wide ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 1. - L. tenuis Waldst. et Kit. 5* The teeth of the calyx equal to or slightly longer than the tube. Leaflets of upper leaves lanceolate to reverse ovate, up to 3 times longer, than wide ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2. - L. corniculatus L. ¹ developed by B. Kouzmanov From  „Флора на НР България”, том VI, БАН, София, (1976)

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Lotus, derived from lota (a small, usually spherical water vessel of brass, copper or plastic used in parts of South Asia), is a genus that includes most bird's-foot trefoils (also known as bacon-and-eggs[1]) and deervetches[2] and contains many dozens of species distributed world-wide. Depending on the taxonomic authority, roughly between 70 and 150 are accepted. Lotus is a genus of legume and its members are adapted to a wide range of habitats, from coastal environments to high altitudes. Most species have leaves with five leaflets; two of these are at the extreme base of the leaf, with the other three at the tip of a naked midrib. This gives the appearance of a pair of large stipules below a "petiole" bearing a trefoil of three leaflets – in fact, the true stipules are minute, soon falling or withering.[3] Some species have pinnate leaves with up to 15 leaflets. The flowers are in clusters of three to ten together at the apex of a stem with some basal leafy bracts; they are pea-flower shaped, usually vivid yellow, but occasionally orange or red. The seeds develop in three or four straight, strongly diverging pods, which together make a shape reminiscent of the diverging toes of a small bird, leading to the common name "bird's-foot".
The genus Lotus is currently undergoing extensive taxonomic revision. All species native to California (30 spp.) have been recently moved to the genera Acmispon and Hosackia in the second edition of The Jepson Manual.

Uses and ecology

Lotus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species. Several species are culvivated for forage, including L. corniculatus, L. glaber, and L. pedunculatus. They can produce toxic cyanogenic glycosides which can be potentially toxic to livestock, but also produce tannins, which are a beneficial antibloating compound.
Species in this genus can fix nitrogen from the air courtesy of their root nodules, making them useful as a cover crop. The nodulating symbionts are Bradyrhizobium and Mesorhizobium bacteria. Scientific research for crop improvement and understanding the general biology of the genus is focused on Lotus japonicus, which is currently the subject of a full genome sequencing project, and is considered a model organism.
Some species, such as L. berthelotii from the Canary Islands, are grown as ornamental plants. L. corniculatus is an invasive species in some regions of North America and Australia.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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References: „Флора на НР България”, том VI, БАН, София, (1976), Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Distribution in Bulgaria: (Conspectus of the Bulgarian Vascular Flora) = conspectus&gs_l= Zlc.
Distribution:

SPECIES:

Lotus corniculatus L. - Common bird's-foot trefoil,  Bird's-foot trefoil

Lotus tenuis Waldst. et Kit. ex Willd. - Narrowleaf trefoil, Narrow-leaved bird's-foot-trefoil, ...

 

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