Hosackia crassifolia

Broad leaved lotus

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Broad leaved lotus is a California native perennial found in California's coastal ranges and central western areas in open grasslands and woodland margins at moderate elevations. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces yellow-green flowers with dark blotches that become more prominent with age, arranged in clusters of 12 to 20 blooms. Growing with sprawling or erect stems 70 to 150 centimeters tall that have a distinctive hollow base, it develops a robust and spreading habit. Its leaves are composed of 9 to 15 elliptic or obovate leaflets, each 2 to 3 centimeters long and pale on the underside, with inconspicuous scarious stipules. The plant produces elongated fruits 3.5 to 7 centimeters long that are oblong and glabrous.

California counties: Humboldt, Mendocino, Ventura, Tulare, Modoc, Kern, Mariposa, Monterey, Nevada, Plumas, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Siskiyou, Trinity, Tuolumne, Mono, Madera, Inyo, El Dorado, Contra Costa, Calaveras, Butte, Tehama, Sonoma, Shasta, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Placer, Orange, Del Norte, Fresno, Glenn, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Sierra, Napa, Colusa, Solano, San Luis Obispo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.