Lotus cruentus

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Family Fabaceae

Taxonomy: Lotus cruentus Court

Synonyms: 9 (APC 2026-07-30)

Lotus australis var. behrianus Tate (taxonomic synonym)
Lotus australis var. behrii C.Moore (taxonomic synonym)
Lotus australis var. coccinea F.Muell. (taxonomic synonym)
Lotus australis var. exstipulatis Dunlop (doubtful taxonomic synonym)
Lotus australis var. exstipulatus J.M.Black (doubtful taxonomic synonym)
Lotus australis var. parviflora S.W.L.Jacobs & J.Pickard (taxonomic synonym)
Lotus australis var. parviflorus Benth. (taxonomic synonym)
Lotus coccineus Schltdl. (nomenclatural synonym)
Lotus fraseri Benth. ex A.Gray (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA, NT, SA, Qld, NSW, Vic

Profiles: APC, Flora of Australia, ALA, iNaturalist, NSW Flora, NT eFlora, SA eFlora, Vic Flora, Florabase, ATRP

Traits

Top source datasets: ANBG_2019 (3), Crowley_2007 (2), Draper_2023 (3), Jurado_1991 (5), Jurado_1992 (3), Kew_2019_1 (7), Kew_2019_6 (3), Leishman_1992 (7), Moles_2003 (4), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (3), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (16), NSWFRD_2014 (7), NTH_2022 (2), NTH_2023 (10), Nano_2011 (2), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (21), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (18), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Sweedman_2006 (3), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Wenk_2023_2 (1), White_2020 (36), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (31). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 78 traits from 213 records in 30 datasets.

Traits by category (click to expand). For categorical traits, the values are listed. For numerical traits, the mean and range are shown.

fire response

resprouting_capacity (categorical): fire_killed (5) [sources: Crowley_2007; NSWFRD_2014; Nano_2011; White_2020]
post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]

flower morphology

flower_colour (categorical): blue_purple (1); pink (2); red_brown (1); white_cream (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; eFLOWER_Dun_2022]
sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 27.5 mm (15-45 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
fruit_width (numerical): 2.42 mm (1.5-3 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
fruit_height (numerical): 2.5 mm (2-3 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]
fruit_type (categorical): legume (5) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (5) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_colour (categorical): brown (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 15 mm2 (15-15 mm2) [sources: Jurado_1991; Leishman_1992]
leaf_length (numerical): 11.38 mm (3-21 mm) [sources: NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 5.25 mm (2-10 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_shape (categorical): obovate (3); obtriangular (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): compound (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (3) [sources: Munroe_2019; White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (11); subshrub (1) [sources: Jurado_1991; Leishman_1992; Moles_2003; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
life_history (categorical): annual (3); biennial (1); perennial (5) [sources: Leishman_1992; Moles_2003; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (5) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (4); erect (1); mat-forming (1); prostrate (5) [sources: NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: White_2020]
parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (2) [sources: White_2020]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (3) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): ballistic (1); barochory (4) [sources: Draper_2023; Jurado_1991; White_2020]
dispersers (categorical): passive (1) [sources: Draper_2023]
flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnyyyy (2); yyyyyyyyyyyy (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (3) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
seed_viability (numerical): 0.68 {count}/{count} (0.68-0.68 {count}/{count}) [sources: Moles_2003]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (2) [sources: White_2020]
storage_organ (categorical): no_storage_organ (1) [sources: Leishman_1992]
bud_bank_location (categorical): none (2) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.81 mg (0.87-2.58 mg) [sources: ANBG_2019; Kew_2019_1; Leishman_1992]
seed_length (numerical): 1.65 mm (1.3-2 mm) [sources: RBGV_2023]
seed_width (numerical): 1.75 mm (1.5-2 mm) [sources: SAH_2023]
seed_shape (categorical): globoid (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.29 m (0.05-0.5 m) [sources: Leishman_1992; WAH_2023_2]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (2) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
White_2020	18	36	M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
eFLOWER_Dun_2022	24	31	L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
RBGV_2023	13	21	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_2023	13	18	S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
NHNSW_2023	12	16	N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NTH_2023	8	10	D. of Land Resource Management and N. T. of Australia. Northern Territory Flora Online. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://eflora.nt.gov.au/.
Kew_2019_1	1	7	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Leishman_1992	7	7	M. R. Leishman and M. Westoby. “Classifying plants into groups on the basis of associations of individual traits-Evidence from Australian semi-arid woodlands”. Journal of Ecology 80 (1992), pp. 417-424. doi: 10.2307/2260687.
NSWFRD_2014	7	7	B. Kenny, C. Orscheg, E. Tasker, M. A. Gill, and R. Bradstock. NSW Flora Fire Response Database, v2.1. database. NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment, 2014.
Jurado_1991	5	5	E. Jurado. “Diaspore weight, dispersal, growth form and perenniality of central Australian plants”. Journal of Ecology 79 (1991), pp. 811-828.
Moles_2003	4	4	A. T. Moles, D. I. Warton, and M. Westoby. “Seed size and survival in the soil in arid Australia”. Austral Ecology 28.5 (2003), pp. 575-585. doi: 10.1046/j.1442-9993.2003.01314.x.
NHNSW_2022	4	4	N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
RBGV_2022	4	4	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_2022	4	4	S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
Sjostrom_2006	4	4	A. Sjöström and C. L. Gross. “Life-history characters and phylogeny are correlated with extinction risk in the Australian angiosperms”. Journal of Biogeography 33.2 (2006), pp. 271-290. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01393.x.
WAH_2022_2	4	4	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
ANBG_2019	1	3	Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
Draper_2023	3	3	J. T. Draper, S. Delean, J. G. Conran, P. Weinstein, and B. S. Simpson. “Life-history characteristics and climate correlates of dioecious plant species in central southern Australia”. Australian Journal of Botany unknown.unknown (2023), p. unknown. doi: 10.1071/BT22110.
Jurado_1992	1	3	E. Jurado and M. Westoby. “Germination biology of selected central Australian plants”. Austral Ecology 17.3 (1992), pp. 341-348. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.1992.tb00816.x.
Kew_2019_6	1	3	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
NHNSW_2014_2	3	3	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Sweedman_2006	1	3	L. Sweedman and D. Merritt. Australian Seeds: A Guide to Their Collection, Identification, and Biology. CSIRO Publishing, 2006. ISBN: 9780643094079.
Crowley_2007	2	2	G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
NTH_2022	2	2	D. of Land Resource Management and N. T. of Australia. Northern Territory Flora Online. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://eflora.nt.gov.au/.
Nano_2011	2	2	C. E. M. Nano and P. J. Clarke. “How do drought and fire influence the patterns of resprouting in Australian deserts?”. Plant Ecology 212 (2011), pp. 2095-2110. doi: 10.1007/s11258-011-9988-x.
WAH_2023_2	1	2	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Munroe_2019	1	1	S. E. M. Munroe, F. A. McInerney, J. Andrae, N. Welti, G. R. Guerin, E. Leitch, T. Hall, S. Szarvas, R. Atkins, S. Caddy-Retalic, and B. Sparrow. “The Photosynthetic Pathways of Plant Species Surveyed in Australia's National Terrestrial Monitoring Network”. Scientific Data 8 (2021), p. 97. doi: 10.1038/s41597-021-00877-z.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.
Wenk_2023_2	1	1	E. Wenk and D. Coleman. “Unpublished: Rain and flood-related flowering cues for Australia's flora, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2023.