Lotus uliginosus Schkuhr, Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Common name(s): [more details]

English: big trefoil, greater bird's-foot trefoil

Spanish: loto de los pantanos

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Perennial herbs, usually with a woody rootstock; stems erect or prostrate, hollow, 3-10 dm long, vegetative parts glabrate (outside Hawai‘i also villous).  Leaflets usually obovate, 8-25 mm long, 3-15 mm wide, sparsely long-villous especially toward margins.  Flowers 5-12 (-15) in heads, peduncles 1-2 mm long; calyx teeth about as along as the tube, the upper pair separated by an acute sinus in bud, sparsely long-villous; corolla yellow, 10-18 mm long, keel often red-tipped.  Pods straight, cylindrical, 15-35 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 681).

"This species is part of the Lotus coniculatus L. complex.  It differs in having obovate leaflets usually not more than 3 times as long as wide, and calyx teeth about as long as the tube, the upper 2 separated by an acute sinus in bud"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 681).

Habitat/ecology:  "Forests, riparian habitats, freshwater wetlands, coastal beaches.  Where native, this plant grows commonly in marshes and wet grasslands.  The plant is nitrogen-fixing and thus increasing soil fertility levels, which may change the floristic composition of the invaded vegetation.  The dense growth habit crowds out native plants and leads to pure stands that prevent forest regeneration"  (Weber, 2003; p. 247).

In Hawai‘i, "probably introduced as a fodder plant, naturalized in pastures, ca. 1,340 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 681).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Native to western, southern, and central Europe in marshy areas" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 681).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 681) Voucher cited: Hosaka 2349 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 37) Voucher cited: W. L. Wagner & T. Flynn 6319 (US)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 681)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 681)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Control:  Control methods for Lotus corniculatus may apply to this species:

Physical:  Mowing more than once every 3 weeks.

Chemical:  Spraying 2,4-D-mecoprop, dicamba, MCPA or clopyralid.  Dalapon applied as a pre-emergence herbicide.  Seedlings may be killed by atrazine or bromacil (Weber, 2003; p. 246).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Lotus uliginosus is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Lotus uliginosus as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Lotus uliginosus may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.