Lotus creticus, Silvery Birds' Foot trevoil,
Hebrew: לוטוס מכסיף, Arabic: لوتس كريتي

Scientific name:  Lotus creticus L.
Common name:  Silvery Birds' Foot trevoil
Hebrew name:  לוטוס מכסיף
Arabic name:  لوتس كريتي
Family:  Papilionaceae, פרפרניים

Wilde bloemen in Israel

Life form:  Chamaephyte
Stems:  Up to 50 cm
Leaves:  Alternate, imparipinnate (pinnately compound leaves in which there is a lone terminal leaflet rather than a terminal pair of leaflets), obovate to oblong-oblanceolate; densely sericeous
Inflorescence:  Heads 2 to 6- flowered
Flowers:  Yellow; keel with a purple beak
Fruits / pods:  Legume
Flowering Period:  March, April, May, June, July, August
Habitat:  Mediterranean strand
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:  Mediterranean
Summer shedding:  Perennating

Lotus creticus, Silvery Birds' Foot trevoil, לוטוס מכסיף


Derivation of the botanical name:
Lotus, the classical Greek name.
creticus, from the island of Crete.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.