Carolina Prairie-trefoil

Lotus helleri

Native to South Carolina (estimated)

Acmispon helleri — flower photograph — no rights reserved · CC0 · Original photograph · iNaturalist medium image; no additional crop, retouching, or re-encoding.

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

9CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including SC

Genus host records with ranges including SC · Lotus

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

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

2BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Lotus

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

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

5BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

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

Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
Callipepla gambeliiGambel's Quail
Centrocercus urophasianusGreater Sage-Grouse
Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
Zenaida asiaticaWhite-winged Dove

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

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Fabaceae

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

Growing sources and scope

Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) · Carolinas and Georgia
Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) · Carolinas and Georgia

Also known as

Carolina Prairie trefoil; Lotus helleri; Lotus unifoliolatus var. helleri; bird's foot trefoil; bird's-foot-trefoil

Conservation status

South Carolina rank	Not available
Global rank	G5T3 [G3]
SC status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources