''Lotus glaucus'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family Fabaceae, native to Madeira and the Salvage Islands. It is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent wood, woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennial plant, perennials, and nearly all Annual plant, annuals and Biennial plant, biennials. Definition ...

with leaves made up of five leaflets. Its flowers are usually orange on opening. ''

Lotus tenellus ''Lotus tenellus'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the Canary Islands. Some authors have included ''L. tenellus'' in '' Lotus glaucus'', a species found in Madeira and the Salvage Islands. ''L. lept ...

'' is included in a more broadly

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

''L. glaucus'' by some authors, which extends its distribution to the Canary Islands.

Description

''Lotus glaucus'' is a

, usually forming dense mats, but sometimes somewhat shrubby. The leaves are unstalked (sessile) with five pinnate leaflets. In ''L. glaucus'' subsp. ''glaucus'', the two basal leaflets are 1.5–4.5 mm long; a short axis (rhachis), up to 2 mm long, separates the basal leaflets from the other three leaflets, which are 2–8 mm long, longer than the basal leaflets. The leaflets of ''L. glaucus'' subsp. ''salvagensis'' are generally longer, up to 13 mm. The stems and leaves have straight hairs which lie flat along the surface. The density of these hairs varies; some plants have dense hairs and appear silvery, others have fewer hairs and are greener. The flowers are arranged in

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

s, usually with one to three flowers per umbel, occasionally up to five. The petals are initially orange to reddish, sometimes deep yellow, turning reddish-brown after fertilization. The upper petal (the standard) is shorter than or as long as the keel petals, which are 10–15 mm long. The wing petals are 9–14 mm long, usually shorter than the keel. The fruit pods are straight.

Taxonomy

''Lotus glaucus'' was first described in volume 3 of the first edition of ''

Hortus Kewensis ''Hortus Kewensis, or a Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew'' by William Aiton was a 1789 catalogue of all the plant species then in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is ...

'', dated to 1789. The title page gives the author of the work as

William Aiton William Aiton (17312 February 1793) was a Scottish botanist. Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superinten ...

, although it is generally agreed that the descriptions were written by

Daniel Solander Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot on Australian soil. Biography ...

or Jonas Carlsson Dryander. Some sources ascribe the name ''Lotus glaucus'' to Solander or to Dryander. However, the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, at Article 46.8, Example 37, explicitly states that the names in this edition of ''Hortus Kewensis'' are to be attributed to Aiton. ''Lotus glaucus'' is placed in ''Lotus'' section ''Pedrosia'', sometimes recognized as a subgenus or as a separate genus. The taxonomy of the species placed in this section is described as "problematic". ''L. glaucus'' belongs to a group that can be divided into different numbers of species. In 2006, Sandral et al. accepted three species – ''L. glaucus'', '' L. tenellus'' and '' L. dumetorum'' – while noting that it was equally possible to treat ''L. glaucus'' as including the other two species. Other sources accept two species, sinking ''L. tenellus'' into ''L. glaucus'', but recognizing ''L. dumetorum''.

Subspecies

Sandral et al. recognize two subspecies: *''Lotus glaucus'' subsp. ''glaucus'' – Madeira; peduncles usually three to four times as long as the subtending leaves *''Lotus glaucus'' subsp. ''salvagensis'' – Salvage Islands; penduncles at most as long as the subtending leaves; leaflets usually larger They also examined specimens from Fuerteventura, which may belong to the same species, possibly as an additional subspecies. However, they noted that "it is difficult to make a precise decision on its taxonomic identity".

Distribution and habitat

''Lotus glaucus'' sensu stricto is native to Madeira (subsp. ''glaucus'') and the Salvage or Savage Islands (subsp. ''salvagensis''), and possibly also Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands if specimens collected from there belong to this species. When ''L. tenellus'' is included in ''L. glaucus'', its distribution is extended to the coastal zone of

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

and

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q3260088, from2=Q15539860

glaucus In Greek mythology, Glaucus (; grc, Γλαῦκος, Glaûkos, glimmering) was a Greek prophetic sea-god, born mortal and turned immortal upon eating a magical herb. It was believed that he came to the rescue of sailors and fishermen in storms ...

Flora of Madeira Flora of the Savage Islands