Lotus arabicusSol. ex L.

WFO wfo-0000212157 Accepted WFO 2026-06 5 photographs CC0

Plate 1 figs. a–e · 2 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 2 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Lotus arabicus, photographed by rosshawkins
fig. a rosshawkins, CC0 1.0 / 2021-09-14 / obs. 157320163
Lotus arabicus, photographed by rosshawkins
fig. b rosshawkins, CC0 1.0 / obs. 146782638
Lotus arabicus, photographed by rosshawkins
fig. c rosshawkins, CC0 1.0 / obs. 157320376
Lotus arabicus, photographed by rosshawkins
fig. d rosshawkins, CC0 1.0 / obs. 146786158
Lotus arabicus, photographed by rosshawkins
fig. e rosshawkins, CC0 1.0 / obs. 157320543

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 23 botanical countries

Regions where Lotus arabicus is native: Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Senegal, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, India AngolaCameroonChadDjiboutiEgyptEritreaEthiopiaGambiaMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesSenegalSudan-South SudanTanzaniaZambiaZimbabweGulf StatesSaudi ArabiaIndia
Native distribution of Lotus arabicus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Cameroon CMN
Chad CHA
Djibouti DJI
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Gambia GAM
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mozambique MOZ
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Senegal SEN
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Gulf States GST ASIA-TEMPERATE
Saudi Arabia SAU
India IND ASIA-TROPICAL

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 6 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Andaca arabica (Sol. ex L.) Raf.
  • Lotus aegyptiacus Moench
  • Lotus arabicus var. microphyllus Brand
  • Lotus borkouanus Quézel
  • Lotus mossamedensis Welw. ex Baker
  • Lotus roseus Forssk.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.