Acmispon haydonii

Acmispon haydonii, synonyms Lotus haydonii and Syrmatium haydonii, is a species of legume native to California^[2][3] It is known by the common names pygmy lotus,^[3] rock bird's-foot trefoil and Haydon's lotus.^{[citation needed]}

Acmispon haydonii
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Acmispon
Species:	A. haydonii
Binomial name
Acmispon haydonii (Orcutt) Brouillet[2]
Synonyms[2]
Hosackia haydonii Orcutt Lotus haydonii (Orcutt) Greene Lotus spencerae J.F.Macbr. Syrmatium haydonii (Orcutt) Brand

It is native to the dry mountain slopes and deserts of southern California, mainly the deserts of eastern San Diego County, where it grows in scrub and woodland habitat. It is a small bushy perennial herb spreading with mostly naked, slender stems. The sparse leaves are made up of usually three tiny leaflets and are deciduous. The inflorescence is generally made up of one or two yellow to reddish pealike flowers each under a centimeter long. The fruit is a curved legume pod also under a centimeter long.^{[citation needed]}

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1889 by Charles Russell Orcutt as Hosackia haydonii. It was subsequently transferred to Lotus by Greene in 1890, to Syrmatium by August Brand in 1898 and independently by Amos Arthur Heller in 1913, and to Acmispon by Luc Brouillet in 2008.^[4]