Lotus herbaceus

Lotus herbaceus is a herbaceous perennial legume in the family Fabaceae, formerly placed in the genus Dorycnium as Dorycnium herbaceum. It develops a clump of slender, often somewhat woody-based stems bearing the characteristic pinnate, three- to five-leaflet foliage of its genus, with small obovate to oblanceolate leaflets and persistent leaf-like stipules. From May through July the plant produces dense, terminal head-like umbels of small pea-flowers, typically white tinged with pink and marked by a darker keel, followed by short, few-seeded legume pods. Native to southern and eastern Europe, the species extends through Anatolia into the Caucasus region and also occurs in parts of northern Africa, where it inhabits dry grasslands, rocky slopes, garrigue and open woodland edges on calcareous soils. Two subspecies are recognised: subsp. herbaceus across south-eastern Europe to the Caucasus, and subsp. gracilis on the western Mediterranean coasts of Europe and Africa.