Acmispon argophyllus explained

Acmispon argophyllus, synonym Lotus argophyllus, is a species of legume native to California and northwest Mexico. It is known by the common name silver bird's-foot trefoil or silver lotus.^[1]

It is native to northwest Mexico and California, where it can be found in the southern California Coast Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Transverse Ranges, the Sierra Nevada, Southern California coastal zones, and the Channel Islands. It is found on sheltered rocky slopes in chaparral, conifer forest, and other habitat types.

Description

Acmispon argophyllus is a perennial herb growing prostrate to erect, the base of its stem woody and tough and upper parts coat in silky silvery hairs.^[2] The leaves are each made up of pairs of hairy oval leaflike leaflets around a centimeter long.

The inflorescence is a cluster of many tubular yellow flowers each about a centimeter long, encased at the base in a calyx of silky-hairy sepals. The fruit is legume pod generally containing a single seed.

Varieties

The varieties of this species include:^[1]

• A. a. var. adsurgens — San Clemente Island bird's-foot trefoil is endemic to San Clemente Island, one of the Channel Islands of California. It is rare.^[3]
• A. a. var. argenteus — Channel Islands silver lotus is endemic to several of the Channel Islands.^[4]
• A. a. var. argophyllus — Fremont's silver lotus is a more common variety which can be found in mainland distribution.^[5]
• A. a. var. fremontii is known only from the Sierra Nevada.
• A. a. var. niveus — Santa Cruz Island bird's-foot trefoil, endemic to Santa Cruz Island, another of the Channel Islands, is rare.^{[6] [7]}
• A. a. var. ornithopus — Guadalupe bird's-foot trefoil, endemic to Guadalupe Island in Baja California, and is sometimes lumped into var. argenteus.^{[8] [9]}

See also

• California chaparral and woodlands

External links

• Jepson Manual Treatment — Lotus argophyllus
• USDA Plants Profile
• Lotus argophyllus Photo gallery

Notes and References

1. http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=11270 Calflora database: Acmispon argophyllus
2. Web site: Acmispon argophyllus . 2024-05-09 . ucjeps.berkeley.edu.
3. Web site: Acmispon argophyllus var. adsurgens Calflora . 2024-05-09 . www.calflora.org.
4. Web site: Acmispon argophyllus var. argenteus Calflora . 2024-05-09 . www.calflora.org.
5. Web site: Acmispon argophyllus var. fremontii Calflora . 2024-05-09 . www.calflora.org.
6. Web site: Acmispon argophyllus var. niveus Calflora . 2024-05-09 . www.calflora.org.
7. Web site: Botany Photo of the Day: var niveus . 2009-08-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090508095637/http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2006/07/lotus_argophyllus_var_niveus.php . 2009-05-08 . dead .
8. Rebman . J. P. . Gibson . J. . Rich . K. . 2016 . Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico . San Diego Society of Natural History . 45 . 148.
9. Brouillet . Luc . 10 April 2020 . New combinations in the American genus Acmispon (Fabaceae: Loteae) . Phytoneuron . 2020-29 . 1–3.