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Lotus japonicus is a small wild legume from East Asia, best known as a model plant for legume genetics and root nodulation research. It is grown mainly in labs and research settings rather than gardens, and it thrives in full sun with well-drained soil.
Lotus japonicus is a wild legume that belongs to family Fabaceae. Members of this family are very diverse, constituting about 20,000 species. They are of significant agricultural and biological importance as many of the legume species are rich sources of protein and oil and can also fix atmospheric nitrogen.
Lotus japonicus has become a model plant for genome studies in legumes, particularly in reference to rhizobial and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. Small genome size of about 470 Mb, diploid genome with 6 haploid chromosomes, a short life cycle of about 2 to 3 months and its perennial nature makes it a convenient plant to study.
Lotus aduncus · Lotus aegaeus · Lotus alianus · Alpine Bird's Foot Trefoil · Lotus anfractuosus · Slender bird's-foot trefoil · Lotus arabicus · Lotus arenarius · Lotus argyrodes · Lotus arinagensis · Lotus assakensis · Australian Trefoil
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lotus japonicus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
