Lotus peregrinus, Lotus carmeli, Bird's Foot Trefoil,
Hebrew: לוטוס מצוי, Arabic: قرن الغزال
Scientific name:  Lotus peregrinus L.
Synonym name:  Lotus carmeli Boiss.
Common name:  Bird's Foot Trefoil
Hebrew name:  לוטוס מצוי
Arabic name:  قرن الغزال
Family:  Papilionaceae, פרפרניים

Wilde bloemen in Israel

Life form:  Annual
Stems:  10-50 cm high; pubescent
Leaves:  Alternate, imparipinnate (pinnately compound leaves in which there is a lone terminal leaflet rather than a terminal pair of leaflets)
Inflorescence:  Heads 2- to 5-flowered
Flowers:  Yellow, peduncles shorter than or equalling leaves; lateral calyx-teeth very short, obtuse
Fruits / pods:  Legume, straight
Flowering Period:  March, April, May
Habitat:  Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:  Mediterranean
Summer shedding:  Ephemeral

Lotus peregrinus,Lotus carmeli, Bird's Foot Trefoil, לוטוס מצוי


Derivation of the botanical name:
Lotus, the classical Greek name.
peregrinus, foreign, wanderer.
carmeli, of Mount Carmel in northwest Israel.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.

Lotus peregrinus,Lotus carmeli, Bird's Foot Trefoil, לוטוס מצוי, قرن الغزال
Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve