Hosackia crassifolia var. crassifolia

Broad leaved lotus

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Broad leaved lotus is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, southern California, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Modoc Plateau in chaparral, pine woodland, and disturbed areas at elevations of 300 to 2,100 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces yellow to orange flowers in compact clusters with distinctive legume-like blooms. Growing with low-spreading stems 10 to 40 centimeters tall, it forms dense clumps with a somewhat woody base. Its compound leaves have multiple leaflets that are thick and somewhat fleshy, typically arranged in 5 to 7 rounded or oblong segments. The plant can be glabrous or slightly hairy, with variations in hairiness depending on its geographic population.

Habitat: Common. Chaparral, pine or mixed woodland, roadsides, disturbed places

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 300-2100 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaRH, SN, SnFrB, SCoR, SCo, TR, PR, MP

California counties: Fresno, Los Angeles, Kern, San Bernardino, Calaveras, Placer, Tehama, Butte, Sierra, Plumas, Lassen, Siskiyou, Trinity, Tulare, San Diego, Alpine, Nevada, Humboldt, Mariposa, Madera, Riverside, Ventura, Del Norte, Tuolumne, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Lake, Shasta, Santa Clara, Napa, Colusa

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