Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Lotus oblongifolius is a species of legume known by the common name streambank bird's-foot trefoil. It is native to western North America from Oregon to northern Mexico, where it grows in moist to wet areas in several types of habitat. It is a spreading or upright perennial herb lined with leaves each made up of elongated oval leaflets each up to 2.5 centimeters long. The flower cluster bears several yellow and white flowers between 1 and 2 centimeters long. The fruit is very elongated, reaching up to 5 centimeters in length but just a few millimeters in width. One variety of this species, var. cupreus, the copper-flowered bird's-foot trefoil, is endemic to the Sierra Nevada slopes of Tulare County, California.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

4 - 24 in Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Yellow, White

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Soil drainage

Standing

Site type

open, moist places, river bottoms, marshy meadows

Plant communities

Chaparral, Mixed Evergreen Forest, Red Fir Forest, Yellow Pine Forest, Wetland-Riparian

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 2 likely

Confirmed Likely

Orange Sulphur

Colias eurytheme

Anna's Blue

Plebejus anna