''Acmispon haydonii'',

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

''Lotus haydonii'' and ''Syrmatium haydonii'', is a species of

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

native to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

It is known by the common names pygmy lotus, rock bird's-foot trefoil and Haydon's lotus. It is native to the dry mountain slopes and deserts of southern

, mainly the deserts of eastern

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

, where it grows in scrub and woodland habitat. It is a small bushy perennial herb spreading with mostly naked, slender stems. The sparse leaves are made up of usually three tiny leaflets and are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is generally made up of one or two yellow to reddish pealike flowers each under a centimeter long. The fruit is a curved

pod also under a centimeter long.

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1889 by

Charles Russell Orcutt Charles Russell Orcutt or C.R. Orcutt (born 27 April 1864 in Hartland, Vermont; died in Haiti 25 August 1929) was a noted naturalist sometimes called "cactus man" because on many expeditions he found new species of cacti. He was active in the San ...

as ''Hosackia haydonii''. It was subsequently transferred to '' Lotus'' by Greene in 1890, to ''

Syrmatium ''Syrmatium'' was a formerly accepted genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to the southwestern United States. , it was considered a synonym of ''Acmispon'' by Plants of the World Online, and only ''Acmispon'' was r ...

'' by August Brand in 1898 and independently by

Amos Arthur Heller Amos Arthur Heller (March 21, 1867 – May 19, 1944) was an American botanist. Early life Heller was born in Danville, Pennsylvania, Danville, Pennsylvania. In 1892, Heller received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Franklin & Marshall College. ...

in 1913, and to ''

Acmispon ''Acmispon'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to North America and the west coast of Chile in South America. It includes several species of American bird's-foot trefoils and deervetches formerly contained in ...

'' by Luc Brouillet in 2008.

References

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants Profile

External links

Photo gallery
haydonii Flora of California {{Loteae-stub