{"assessment":{"band":"Strong","factor_identity":{"basis":"approved shared identity","growth_habit_source":"USDA PLANTS","name_used":"Acmispon helleri"},"factor_scopes":{"bees":"Southeastern North America","birds":"North America","caterpillars":"Host genera of native Lepidoptera with established South Carolina range; association and range overlap, not confirmed local feeding.","specialists":"Eastern North America","structure":"USDA species growth habit where matched; otherwise sourced atlas growth habit"},"factors":{"applied_insect_credit":0,"baseline_score":65,"composite":0.734,"insect_support":{"credit":0,"groups":{"ants":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Ants","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"},"beetles":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Beetles","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"},"flies":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Flies","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"},"moths_butterflies":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Adult butterflies / moths","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"},"other_hymenoptera":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Other wasps","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"},"other_insects":{"credit":0,"flower_visits":[],"label":"Other insects","recorded_name_count":null,"recorded_names":[],"seed_interactions":[],"status":"unknown"}},"interpretation":"One provisional point per additional documented insect group, capped at five. Flower visits are a resource-use proxy, not confirmed feeding or pollination. Missing evidence is unknown. Study volume and repeated records earn no extra credit.","maximum_credit":5,"version":"insect-support-1"},"pct":{"bees":0.5942928039702233,"birds":0.8511166253101737,"caterpillars":0.7692307692307693,"specialists":0.890818858560794,"structure":0.5},"rank_pct":0.699,"raw":{"bees":2,"birds":5,"caterpillars":9,"genus_used":["Acmispon","Lotus"],"specialists":1,"structure":["Forb/herb"]}},"fit_score":null,"native_basis":"native_inferred","rarity_adjustment":0,"rarity_policy":"Conservation status is displayed separately and never changes ecological scores, including when unranked.","reason":"Calculated with the shared rules using South Carolina host-range and shared ecological evidence.","reference":"NC native reference cohort, method 0.6.4; not a South Carolina percentile","score":65,"scoring_inputs":{"harm_penalty":0,"invasive":false,"invasive_rank":null,"native":true,"state_rank":""},"source_ids":["lep_sc","globi","bigbee","avian","usdahabit","robertson","antseed"],"status":"scored_provisional","version":"shared-0.6.5"},"condition_evidence":{"light":{"evidence_id":"fact:9f01066dd24989b97def789afb1607e3d8723f9a48bd3836ce1c39e2ef697bf9","levels":[4],"policy":"selected-condition-categories-1","range":[4,4],"scope":{"kind":"region","region_id":"floraquest_nc_sc_ga"},"semantics":"documented_native_habitat_conditions","source_field":"habitat_light_categories","source_label":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","source_url":"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emountainworks.android.southeastfieldguide","status":"mapped_selected_fact"},"moisture":{"evidence_id":"fact:c897b306f0631ee65206accfcfa50dbbb086b15da88d70427fa8efbc8df78b76","levels":[0,3],"policy":"selected-condition-categories-1","range":[0,3],"scope":{"kind":"region","region_id":"floraquest_nc_sc_ga"},"semantics":"documented_native_habitat_conditions","source_field":"habitat_moisture_categories","source_label":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","source_url":"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emountainworks.android.southeastfieldguide","status":"mapped_selected_fact"}},"evidence":{"fit_score":null,"growth_habit":["Forb/herb"],"invasive_status":{"status":"unresolved"},"native_status":{"status":"native_inferred"},"occurrence":{"county_fips":["45047","45091"],"meaning":"Recorded occurrence; not a county native-range assertion"},"quercus_score":null,"regional":{"county_fips":["45047","45091"],"growth_habit":null,"growth_habit_source":null,"invasive":null,"invasive_evidence":[],"invasive_rank":null,"native":true,"native_basis":"usda_l48_and_nc_flora_without_atlas_flag","native_evidence":[{"claim":"native","matched_name":"Lotus helleri","scope":"NC","source":"nc_flora","url":"https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/"},{"claim":"native","matched_name":"Acmispon helleri","scope":"L48","source":"usda","text":"L48:N","url":"https://plants.usda.gov/"},{"claim":"native","matched_name":"Acmispon helleri","scope":"NC","source":"nc_flora","url":"https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/"},{"claim":"native","matched_name":"Lotus unifoliolatus var. helleri","scope":"NC","source":"nc_flora","url":"https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/"}],"native_status":"native_inferred","source_ids":["sernec:90004"],"source_name":"Lotus helleri","source_refs":["SC-checklist-4.html","sernec_county"],"source_url":"https://sernecportal.org/portal/checklists/checklist.php?pagenumber=4&clid=3141&dynclid=0&pid=84&searchsynonyms=1","state_rank":null},"source_refs":["SC-checklist-4.html","sernec_county"],"source_url":"https://sernecportal.org/portal/checklists/checklist.php?pagenumber=4&clid=3141&dynclid=0&pid=84&searchsynonyms=1","state_rank":{"value":null}},"fit_inputs":{"light":[4,4],"moisture":[0,3],"ph":null},"fit_provenance":{"counties":"USDA PLANTS: recorded in 12 NC counties","light":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","moisture":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)"},"fit_record":{"band":"Strong","condition_evidence":{"light":{"evidence_id":"fact:9f01066dd24989b97def789afb1607e3d8723f9a48bd3836ce1c39e2ef697bf9","levels":[4],"policy":"selected-condition-categories-1","range":[4,4],"scope":{"kind":"region","region_id":"floraquest_nc_sc_ga"},"semantics":"documented_native_habitat_conditions","source_field":"habitat_light_categories","source_label":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","source_url":"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emountainworks.android.southeastfieldguide","status":"mapped_selected_fact"},"moisture":{"evidence_id":"fact:c897b306f0631ee65206accfcfa50dbbb086b15da88d70427fa8efbc8df78b76","levels":[0,3],"policy":"selected-condition-categories-1","range":[0,3],"scope":{"kind":"region","region_id":"floraquest_nc_sc_ga"},"semantics":"documented_native_habitat_conditions","source_field":"habitat_moisture_categories","source_label":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","source_url":"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emountainworks.android.southeastfieldguide","status":"mapped_selected_fact"}},"county_fips":["37025","37033","37057","37059","37077","37097","37119","37145","37159","37167","37179","37185","45047","45091"],"fit_inputs":{"light":[4,4],"moisture":[0,3],"ph":null},"fit_note":"Shared sunlight, moisture and pH calculation; county geography is an additional layer. Missing source traits remain unknown.","fit_provenance":{"counties":"USDA PLANTS: recorded in 12 NC counties","light":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","moisture":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)"},"garden_suitability":{"default_excluded":false,"flags":[],"review_status":"not_assessed"},"invasive_rank":false,"native_eligible":true,"quercus_score":65,"state":"SC"},"garden_suitability":{"default_excluded":false,"flags":[],"review_status":"not_assessed"},"growing_observations":{"floraquest_carolinas_georgia":{"matched_name":"Acmispon helleri","retrieved":"2026-10-04T13:31:16.252589+00:00","scope":{"kind":"region","region_id":"floraquest_nc_sc_ga"},"scope_note":"Original regional ecological and identification evidence; no location-specific gardening adjustments.","source_label":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","source_name":"Acmispon helleri","source_record_id":2688,"source_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_url":"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emountainworks.android.southeastfieldguide","trait_evidence":[{"field":"habitat_description","source_column":"HabitatText","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2688,"source_table":"Organism","value":"Dry woodlands and openings, originally probably limited to prairie-like sites (fire-maintained, post oak-blackjack oak savannas), generally on clayey soils, now primarily seen on roadbanks, along railroads, and in powerline rights-of-way, where mowing and bush-hogging have replaced fire as the force keeping the habitat open, sunny, and suitable for this plant of prairie affinities."},{"field":"geographic_range_description","source_column":"Description","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2688,"source_table":"Organism","value":"A. helleri is endemic to the Piedmont of extreme sc. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and ne. Georgia."},{"field":"phenology_source_text","source_column":"Phenology","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2688,"source_table":"Organism","value":"(Jun-) Jul-Aug (-Sep)."},{"field":"taxonomic_synonymy","source_column":"Synonymy","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2688,"source_table":"Organism","value":"[= S, Va; = Acmispon americanus (Nutt.) Rydb. var. helleri (Britton) Brouillet — FNA11.1, K4, POWO; = Lotus helleri Britton — RAB, S13; = Lotus purshianus F.E. & E.G.Clem. var. helleri (Britton) Isely — C, SE3, Isely (1981), Isely (1998); = Lotus unifoliolatus (Hook.) Benth. var. helleri (Britton) Kartesz & Gandhi — K1, NS; Lotus americanus (Nutt.) Bisch. — F; Lotus purshianus F.E. & E.G.Clem. — G]"},{"field":"botanical_comments","source_column":"Comments","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2688,"source_table":"Organism","value":"A. helleri is clearly closely related to A. americanus (= Lotus unifoliolatus , = Lotus purshianus , = Lotus americanus ), of prairies of the midwestern states and various habitats farther west, which ranges east to LA, AR, MO, IL, IN, and WI. Isely (1981) reduced A. helleri to a variety (in Lotus ), because it \"is but one of many elements within the L. purshianus complex and its differences from the rest are less than among the California races,\" while also stating \"since it has no breeding contact with var . purshianus , it is reasonably maintained as a species.\" Since A. helleri seems adequately separated from A. americanus by its narrower leaflets, glabrate vestiture, and allopatric distribution, we choose to reasonably maintain it as a species. See Sorrie (2015) for notes on its morphology."},{"field":"heliophily_index","source_column":"HIndex","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2688,"source_table":"Organism","value":9},{"field":"habitat_moisture_categories","source_column":"Attr2","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2688,"source_table":"GraphicKey","value":["Dry","Moist"]},{"field":"habitat_light_categories","source_column":"Attr3","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2688,"source_table":"GraphicKey","value":["Full sun"]},{"field":"graphic_key_source_attributes","source_column":"Attr0..25","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2688,"source_table":"GraphicKey","value":{"Attr0":"gr09","Attr1":"nc_pd,sc_pd,ga_pd,","Attr10":"nr","Attr11":"3,5","Attr12":"e","Attr13":"bil","Attr15":"pi,wh,ye","Attr16":"n","Attr17":"DSS","Attr2":"Dry,Moist","Attr3":"Sun","Attr3a":"y","Attr3a_subregion":"native_nc_pd:y,native_sc_pd:y,native_ga_pd:y,","Attr4":" 6-9","Attr5":"er","Attr6":"glb,pub","Attr7":"alt","Attr8":"c","Attr9":"in,wi"}}],"values":{"botanical_comments":"A. helleri is clearly closely related to A. americanus (= Lotus unifoliolatus , = Lotus purshianus , = Lotus americanus ), of prairies of the midwestern states and various habitats farther west, which ranges east to LA, AR, MO, IL, IN, and WI. Isely (1981) reduced A. helleri to a variety (in Lotus ), because it \"is but one of many elements within the L. purshianus complex and its differences from the rest are less than among the California races,\" while also stating \"since it has no breeding contact with var . purshianus , it is reasonably maintained as a species.\" Since A. helleri seems adequately separated from A. americanus by its narrower leaflets, glabrate vestiture, and allopatric distribution, we choose to reasonably maintain it as a species. See Sorrie (2015) for notes on its morphology.","geographic_range_description":"A. helleri is endemic to the Piedmont of extreme sc. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and ne. Georgia.","graphic_key_source_attributes":{"Attr0":"gr09","Attr1":"nc_pd,sc_pd,ga_pd,","Attr10":"nr","Attr11":"3,5","Attr12":"e","Attr13":"bil","Attr15":"pi,wh,ye","Attr16":"n","Attr17":"DSS","Attr2":"Dry,Moist","Attr3":"Sun","Attr3a":"y","Attr3a_subregion":"native_nc_pd:y,native_sc_pd:y,native_ga_pd:y,","Attr4":" 6-9","Attr5":"er","Attr6":"glb,pub","Attr7":"alt","Attr8":"c","Attr9":"in,wi"},"habitat_description":"Dry woodlands and openings, originally probably limited to prairie-like sites (fire-maintained, post oak-blackjack oak savannas), generally on clayey soils, now primarily seen on roadbanks, along railroads, and in powerline rights-of-way, where mowing and bush-hogging have replaced fire as the force keeping the habitat open, sunny, and suitable for this plant of prairie affinities.","habitat_light_categories":["Full sun"],"habitat_moisture_categories":["Dry","Moist"],"heliophily_index":9,"phenology_source_text":"(Jun-) Jul-Aug (-Sep).","taxonomic_synonymy":"[= S, Va; = Acmispon americanus (Nutt.) Rydb. var. helleri (Britton) Brouillet — FNA11.1, K4, POWO; = Lotus helleri Britton — RAB, S13; = Lotus purshianus F.E. & E.G.Clem. var. helleri (Britton) Isely — C, SE3, Isely (1981), Isely (1998); = Lotus unifoliolatus (Hook.) Benth. var. helleri (Britton) Kartesz & Gandhi — K1, NS; Lotus americanus (Nutt.) Bisch. — F; Lotus purshianus F.E. & E.G.Clem. — G]"}}},"light_range":["full sun","full sun"],"light_source":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","native_synthesis":{"claims":[{"claim":"native","matched_name":"Lotus helleri","scope":"NC","source":"nc_flora","url":"https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/"},{"claim":"native","matched_name":"Acmispon helleri","scope":"L48","source":"usda","text":"L48:N","url":"https://plants.usda.gov/"},{"claim":"native","matched_name":"Acmispon helleri","scope":"NC","source":"nc_flora","url":"https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/"},{"claim":"native","matched_name":"Lotus unifoliolatus var. helleri","scope":"NC","source":"nc_flora","url":"https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/"}],"county_native_range":"unresolved","explanation":"Source scopes are preserved. State occurrence alone does not establish nativity; combined regional evidence is labeled estimated.","label":"Native to South Carolina (estimated from combined sources)","rule":"southeast-native-synthesis-1","status":"native_inferred"},"source_name":"Lotus helleri","taxon_id":"taxon:e1f6b1fc-0e68-5ef4-a585-b4af9e6baff2","revision":"publish:5809c037-0e9a-430a-8008-5ab6f69800c0","photos":[{"id":"inat-421696241","src":"/api/photos/image/9faca9d1bd52fc20dd253ef2cb298c8e6653c280a23d3c7bcb2428241a15ba5b.jpeg","view":"bloom","alt":"Acmispon helleri — flower photograph","width":375,"height":500,"artist":"no rights reserved","license":"CC0","license_url":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/","source_url":"https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/421696241","changes":"iNaturalist medium image; no additional crop, retouching, or re-encoding."}]}