LOTUS EDULIS

Family and Genus:- See- LEGUMINOSAE/Sect. KROKERIA

Common Name:- Edible lotus

Homotypic Synonyms:- Mullaghera edulis.

Meaning:- Lotus (Gr) The ancient name for various leguminous plants.

Edulis (L) Of food, edible.

General description:- Low to short, diffuse annual, sparsely pilose throughout.

Stems:-

1) 10-30 cm. decumbent, usually branched from base.

Leaves:-

1) Upper leaflets, 5-16 x 3·5-10 mm obovate, obtuse or truncate.

2) Lower, smaller and apiculate.

Flowers:-

1) 1(-3) on a long peduncle.

2) Bracts, slightly shorter than the calyx.

3) Calyx, 10-12 mm, indistinctly bilabiate, teeth subequal, at least twice as long as

the tube.

4) Corolla, 11-15 mm, yellow, sometimes tinged reddish-purple.

Fruit:-

1) Legume, 25-40 mm, broadly cylindrical, slightly curved, sulcate on the upper

suture, fleshy when young, dry and spongy when ripe, not or tardily dehiscent.

Key features:-

1) Calyx-teeth, less than 3 times as long as the tube.

2) Legume, 4-8 mm diam, sulcate on the back.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- On sandy clay soils and rocks near the sea.

Distribution:- Widespread but rarer in E. Mediterranean. Widespread but not

common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Feb-May.

Photo by:- Steve Lenton