- Family: Fabaceae Lindl.
- Genus: Lotus L.
Lotus goetzei Harms
- Genus: Lotus L.
This species is accepted, and its native range is Ethiopia to S. Tropical Africa.
[FZ]
Leguminosae, various authors. Flora Zambesiaca 3:7. 2003
- Habit
- Subshrub up to 50 cm tall from a woody rootstock.
- Stem
- Stems erect, ascending or prostrate and up to 1(2) m long and up to 3 mm in diameter, woody below, pilose with ± dense white spreading hairs up to 1 mm long, the epidermis dark purple when dry.
- Leaves
- Leaves very variable in size, only the leaf base and rhachis persisting on older branches; basal leaflets asymmetrical, up to 15 × 8 mm, rhombic with the basal angle usually 70–90º; lateral and apical leaflets up to 18 × 7 mm, the apical one a little longer than the lateral ones, cuneate-obovate; all leaflets with margins revolute, pilose on upper and lower surfaces with spreading hairs up to 1.5(3) mm long, or subglabrous but with some hairs on the midrib and margins, subcoriaceous, densely marked with purple dots on upper surface and purple dots or wavy lines beneath; rhachis 1.5–2.5(?6) mm long, usually less than half the length of the basal leaflets; stipular glands purple, minute.
- Inflorescences
- Umbels 2–5-flowered; peduncle 0.5–4 cm long, pubescent; foliage leaf on the peduncle usually 3-foliolate; pedicels 1–2 mm long, pubescent.
- Calyx
- Calyx reddish, with ± sparse, spreading hairs up to 1.5 mm long; hypanthium c. 1.5 mm long; calyx tube c. 2 mm above the insertion of the stamens; calyx lobes 2.5–3.5 × 1.2–1.5 mm, triangular-acuminate.
- Corolla
- Corolla white or cream, the standard streaked with red and, at least when dry, the tip of the keel reddish or purplish; standard 8.5–10 × 4–5.5 mm, slightly violin-shaped, wedge-shaped at the base, retuse; wings 8.5–9 mm long including the 3 mm long claw, the blade oblong, laterally pouched, auriculate, the auricles of both wings often adhering to each other; keel c. 10 mm long including claws 3–3.5 mm long, curved, pointed.
- Filaments
- Filament sheath c. 6 mm long, often papillose near the base; free parts of the shorter filaments c. 2 mm long, those of the longer filaments c. 3 mm long.
- Pistil
- Ovary c. 7 mm long, glabrous, c. 26-ovulate; style 4 mm long, slightly curved upwards.
- Fruits
- Pod brownish-red, up to 25 × 2.2 mm, terete.
- Seeds
- Seeds 16 or less, c. 1.1 mm long, ovoid.
[ILDIS]
International Legume Database and Information Service
- Conservation
- Not Threatened
- Ecology
- Africa: Afromontane(upland) bushland and thicket., Afromontane grassland
- Habit
- Perennial, Not climbing, Herb
[FTEA]
Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971
- Habit
- Perennial; rootstock massive, woody; stems prostrate, ascending or bushy, up to 3 mm. in diameter, and up to 1(–2) m. in height, the epidermis a dark purple or blackish-red when dry, often obscured by dense white or slightly fulvous spreading hairs up to 1 mm. long; internodes on the side branches often very short (under 5 mm.).
- Leaves
- Leaves very variable in size, on old stunted shoots ± 4 mm. overall, including a rhachis of 1 mm., on young vigorous shoots up to 27 mm., including a rhachis of 6 mm.; rhachis nearly always less than half as long as basal leaflets, these usually quite different in shape from the apical leaflets, usually asymmetrically oblong with the midrib running diagonally from corner to corner, basal angle commonly 70°–80°; apical leaflets cuneate-obovate, 1·5–2·5 times as long as wide; indumentum on leaves variable, but ± spreading hairs, up to ± 1 mm. long, are usually frequent, at least on the margins and lower midrib, sometimes very sparse on the lamina.
- Inflorescences
- Umbels 1–6-flowered; peduncle pubescent, 0·5–4 cm., rarely up to 8 cm. long.
- Bracts
- Bract nearly always 3-foliolate, the parts ± oblong; pedicels densely pubescent, 1–1·5 mm. long.
- Calyx
- Calyx reddish, ± pubescent with spreading hairs, the tube ± 2 mm. long below the insertion of the stamens, ± 3 mm. above; teeth triangular-acuminate, ± 3 mm. long.
- Corolla
- Corolla white, with purplish, red or pink markings; standard emarginate, ± 9 by 5 mm.; wings ± 11 mm. long including a claw of 4 mm.
- Filaments
- Filament-sheath ± 5 mm. long, sometimes papillose near the base, free parts 2 and 3 mm. long.
- Pistil
- Ovary ± 7 mm. long, ± 26-ovulate; style slightly curved upwards, ± 4 mm. long.
- Fruits
- Fruit up to 2·5 cm. long but often shorter, ± 16-or fewer seeded.
- Figures
- Fig. 146/1–12, p. 1046.
- Habitat
- Upland grassland, especially in scrub or at forest edges; 1500–3700 m., rarely below 2000 m.; rainfall over 1000 mm.
- Distribution
- K1 K3 K4 K6 T2 T7 U1 U3 also Angola (fide Torre in C.F.A. 3: 81 (1962)specimen not seen)
Native to:
Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda
Lotus goetzei Harms appears in other Kew resources:
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 8, 1954 | Volkens, G. [1487], Tanzania | K000226746 | Unknown type material | |
Apr 8, 1954 | Volkens, G. [2011], Tanzania | K000226747 | Unknown type material | |
Goetze, W. [1044], Tanzania | K000226748 | isotype |
First published in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 30: 324 (1901)
Accepted by
- Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Pope, G.V., Polhill, R.N. & Martins, E.S. (eds.) (2003). Flora Zambesiaca 3(7): 1-274. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Lock, J.M. (1989). Legumes of Africa a check-list: 1-619. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Literature
Kew Backbone Distributions
- Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Pope, G.V., Polhill, R.N. & Martins, E.S. (eds.) (2003). Flora Zambesiaca 3(7): 1-274. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Gillett in Kew Bulletin 13: 369 (1958).
- J.P.M. Brenan, Check-lists of the Forest Trees and Shrubs of the British Empire no. 5, part II, Tanganyika Territory p. 431 (1949).
- Harms in A. Engler, Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 30: 324 (1901).
International Legume Database and Information Service
- Gillett, J. B. et al. (1971). Papilionoideae. In: Fl. Trop. E. Africa, Milne-Redhead & Polhill
Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
International Legume Database and Information Service
International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0