|
''Lotus'', derived from ''lota'' (a small, usually spherical water vessel of brass, copper or plastic used in parts of South Asia), is a genus that included bird's-foot trefoils (also known as bacon-and-eggs〔Collins English Dictionary〕) and deervetches〔See Acmispon〕 and contains many dozens of species distributed world-wide. Depending on the taxonomic authority, roughly between 70 and 150 are accepted. ''Lotus'' is a genus of legume and its members are adapted to a wide range of habitats, from coastal environments to high altitudes. Most species have leaves with five leaflets; two of these are at the extreme base of the leaf, with the other three at the tip of a naked midrib. This gives the appearance of a pair of large stipules below a "petiole" bearing a trefoil of three leaflets – in fact, the true stipules are minute, soon falling or withering.〔C. A. Stace, ''Interactive Flora of the British Isles, a Digital Encyclopaedia'': ''Lotus''. ISBN 90-75000-69-3. ((Online version ))〕 Some species have pinnate leaves with up to 15 leaflets. The flowers are in clusters of three to ten together at the apex of a stem with some basal leafy bracts; they are pea-flower shaped, usually vivid yellow, but occasionally orange or red. The seeds develop in three or four straight, strongly diverging pods, which together make a shape reminiscent of the diverging toes of a small bird, leading to the common name "bird's-foot". The genus ''Lotus'' is currently undergoing extensive taxonomic revision. All species native to California (30 spp.) have been recently moved to the genera ''Acmispon'' and ''Hosackia'' in the second edition of ''The Jepson Manual''. ==Uses and ecology== ''Lotus'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species. Several species are culvivated for forage, including ''L. corniculatus'', ''L. glaber'', and ''L. pedunculatus''. They can produce toxic cyanogenic glycosides which can be potentially toxic to livestock, but also produce tannins, which are a beneficial antibloating compound. Species in this genus can fix nitrogen from the air courtesy of their root nodules, making them useful as a cover crop. The nodulating symbionts are ''Bradyrhizobium'' and ''Mesorhizobium'' bacteria. Scientific research for crop improvement and understanding the general biology of the genus is focused on ''Lotus japonicus'', which is currently the subject of a full genome sequencing project, and is considered a model organism. Some species, such as ''L. berthelotii'' from the Canary Islands, are grown as ornamental plants. ''L. corniculatus'' is an invasive species in some regions of North America and Australia. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lotus (genus)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|