Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil

Lotus pedunculatus

Found in disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 29%

Light: 4 or more hours of direct sun

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At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 2 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

7CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Lotus

Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
Colias philodiceClouded Sulphur, Clover Butterfly
Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
Epargyreus clarusSilver-Spotted Skipper
Ostrinia penitalisAmerican Lotus Borer, Lily Moth
Xenotemna pallorana

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

1Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Lotus

Megachile melanophaea

Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

3BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lotus

Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
Callipepla gambeliiGambel's Quail
Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Fabaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Also known as

Greater Bird's foot trefoil; Lotus pedunculatus

Conservation status

Florida rank	SNA
Global rank	GNR
FL status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

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