Lotus tenuis

Narrow-leaf bird's-foot trefoil

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Narrow-leaf bird's-foot trefoil is a naturalized perennial herb found in coastal California regions including northern coastal, central coastal, and San Francisco Bay areas in open, disturbed areas at elevations below 600 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces bright yellow flowers 7 to 10 millimeters long in small clusters of 1 to 4 blossoms. Growing with decumbent or ascending stems that are nearly hairless or sparsely hairy at young nodes, it reaches a variable height. Its compound leaves have 5 leaflets that are narrow and linear, each 5 to 15 millimeters long with acute or softly pointed tips. The plant produces slender pods 1.5 to 3 centimeters long that contain several seeds.

Habitat: Open, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: < 600 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SnFrB

California counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, Ventura, Sacramento, Sonoma, Trinity, Santa Clara, Napa, Humboldt, Solano, Contra Costa, San Diego, Lassen, Plumas, Yolo, Inyo

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