Glinus lotoides
Lotus sweetjuice
(c) Lucas Christofides, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Molluginaceae · Type: Herb · Not Native
Glinus lotoides (Lotus sweetjuice) is a non-native California herb in the Molluginaceae family.
Lotus sweetjuice is a naturalized annual found in northern California coastal ranges, Great Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, southern coastal ranges, southern California, western Transverse Ranges, San Gabriel Mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in moist or seasonally dry wetland margins at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from June to November, this plant produces small white to pale green flowers in clusters of 3 to 15 blooms. Growing with stems 5 to 35 centimeters tall, it spreads in low, sprawling formations with grayish-green foliage. Its leaves are small, 5 to 30 millimeters long, with obovate to round blades that have a soft, somewhat gray-green appearance. The fruit is approximately 3.5 to 4.5 millimeters long with orange-brown seeds featuring distinctive black tubercles.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 1 sympatric species. Key differentiator is sepal length and geographic range.
Habitat and range
Habitat: Uncommon. Moist or seasonally dry margins of wetlands
Elevation: < 1000 m
California counties: Riverside, San Diego, Placer, Santa Clara, Napa, Marin, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Los Angeles, Colusa, Butte, Mendocino, Lake, Yuba, Amador, Calaveras, Monterey, Tulare, El Dorado, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Kern, Tehama, Glenn, Alameda, Merced, Stanislaus
Outside California: to Alaska, southeastern United States, native to Europe
Bloom period
Glinus lotoides blooms Jun-Nov.
How to tell it apart
vs Mollugo: Glinus is hairy with flowers on short thick stalks; Mollugo is completely smooth with flowers on long thin stalks.
Frequently asked questions
Is Glinus lotoides native to California?
No. Glinus lotoides is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Glinus lotoides bloom?
Glinus lotoides blooms Jun-Nov.
Where in California does Glinus lotoides grow?
Glinus lotoides occurs in Riverside, San Diego, Placer, Santa Clara, Napa, Marin, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma and other counties, at elevations of < 1000 m.
What plant family does Glinus lotoides belong to?
Glinus lotoides is in the Molluginaceae family, genus Glinus.
What habitat does Glinus lotoides grow in?
Glinus lotoides grows in Uncommon. Moist or seasonally dry margins of wetlands.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.