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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE LEGUME FAMILY | |||||||||
| The legumes are widely used as crop
foods around the world. Some well known examples are peas (Pisum),
peanuts (Arachis hypogaea), and beans (Phaseolus). Some
legumes are planted as alternate crops to restore nitrogen to the soil with
the nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots nodules. Other plants, like
the sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus), are used as ornamentals.
The legumes are herbs or trees. These plants have pinnately or palmately compound leaves. Rarely, the leaves are simple. Stipules, or a pair of leaf-like structures, are found at the base of the leaf. The flowers are in various types of inflorescences in the leaf axils and at the top of the plant, or the flowers are solitary. The flowers are usually irregularly shaped with five petals: the banner, two wings and two keels. The banner is the outermost petal and is often quite large. The wings are the next outermost petals and are found on the sides. The keel is made of two petals that often appear fused to create a boat shape. The legumes usually have 10 stamens, commonly in a diadelphous, or nine plus one arrangement. The fruit types in this family include the legume, such as the pea, or the loment, which is constricted between the seeds. In some legume species, modifications such as tendrils or thorns may be observed. |
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| SPANISH CLOVER | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Lotus unifoliolatus var. unifoliolatus | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Spanish clover is an herbaceous annual that grows as tall as 80 cm from a slender taproot. The stipules are reduced to blackish, gland-like structures. The leaves are divided into three leaflets, with the terminal leaflet stalked. The flowers are solitary and stalked. The sepals have long teeth that are nearly twice as long as the tube. The flowers are white with pink veins. The fruit is a hairless pod that is slightly constricted between the seeds. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Spanish clover grows in wet places, in particular slough bottoms, streamlet margins, and seepy slopes. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This species is found in southeastern Saskatchewan in the Mixed Grassland, Moist Mixed Grassland, and Aspen Parkland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Spanish clover is threatened in Saskatchewan because it is rare or uncommon. This species is only somewhat regionally restricted but local population sizes vary. Immediate or probable threats have been identified. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY SPANISH CLOVER | |||||||||
| * Are there three leaflets per leaf? * Are flowers white with pink veins? * Are the legumes slightly constricted between the seeds? * Did you find it in southeastern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found Spanish clover! | |||||||||
