Lotus hirsutus
Sponsor
Kindly sponsored by a member of the International Dendrology Society.
Credits
Julian Sutton (2023)
Recommended citation
Sutton, J. (2023), 'Lotus hirsutus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Subshrub to 50 cm, more rarely to 150 cm, at least the base woody. Stems erect, ascending or prostrate, hairy. Leaves with 5 mucronate leaflets, hairy on both surfaces, the two basal leaflets smaller; rachis absent or very short; leaflets of lower leaves 3.5–6.5 × 1.5–4.5 mm, those of upper leaves 8–25 × 2.5–6 mm. Inflorescences appearing to be terminal, with 4–11 flowers and a leaf-like bract with 3 leaflets; peduncle 1–3(–8) cm. Pedicel 1–3.5 mm, densely hairy. Calyx 8–10 mm, hairy, pinkish or purplish; teeth linear-lanceolate, unequal. Corolla 10–20 mm, banner and wings white or pink. Fruit 6–10 mm, oblong-ovoid, glabrous, purple, with 2–4 seeds. (Lifante 1999; Tutin et al. 1968).
Distribution Albania Algeria Croatia France Greece Israel Italy Lebanon Montenegro Portugal Spain Syria Turkey
Habitat Open places and shrublands, 0–1,500 m asl.
USDA Hardiness Zone 8-9
RHS Hardiness Rating H4
Awards AGM
Conservation status Not evaluated (NE)
Lotus hirsutus is a well-known garden plant in the more maritime parts of Europe which do not experience severe winter cold, suiting full sun and well-drained soil. An ‘excellent sub-shrubby plant for the grey garden’ (Thomas 1992), as seen in cultivation it forms a fairly dense, silvery-hairy bush, with annual herbaceous stems to about 50 cm tall from a woody framework. It tends to be more compact and attractive in hot situations on poor soil (Bean 1981). Wild forms are not always so silvery, nor so dense, so there has probably been a degree of deliberate or unconscious selection in horticulture. Some such clones have been named. The leaves are small and quite densely packed, pinnate, but with such a short rachis that they appear palmate; they are lost rather irregularly, according to the weather, so the plant is effectively semi-evergreen. Flowers of garden forms are typically white tinged pink, over a long summer season; they are not large, but add something to the general effect. The reddish or purplish, rather plump fruits are very conspicuous and attractive.
As a wild plant it is widespread in the Mediterranean region. It is most readily distinguishished from the taxonomically difficult L. dorycnium complex by its larger flowers and larger, multi-seeded fruits (Lifante 1999; Tutin et al. 1968). Molecular studies have trouble clearly separating the two at the eastern end of the range, even though the morphological differences stand (Kramina et al. 2016; 2022). Introgressive hybridization, perhaps in the distant past, is one possible explanation. Prostrate, densely leafy forms with short internodes are known from the coast of southwest Portugal, coexisting with more typical upright forms (Lifante 1999). These would surely be worth selecting as rock garden plants.
A familiar European plant, its name dates back to Linnaeus (1753) although it was clearly known to an earlier generation of botanists. It was apparently in British cultivation by 1683 (Bean 1981). In North America it is quite widely grown in California’s Mediterranean climate, as well as further north on the Pacific seaboard.
Propagation is usually by seed, which is set prolifically in Britain, although the habit will vary (Bean 1981). Selected forms can be propagated by softwood cuttings in summer (Huxley, Griffiths & Levy 1992).
