In touch: Adding the rare and endangered Nuttall's lotus to my pollinator garden

This member of the pea family can beautify a native garden

“Do you want some Acmispon prostratus seeds?”

My ears pricked up. This was one of my friends who works at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I had crossed paths with her where I work as a horticulturist. She said someone had collected the seeds and she could let me have some if I had any use for them.

Seeds for Nuttall’s lotus. Photo by the author

If my friend had seeds for oaks or sages, she might have simply asked if I wanted any white sage seeds or scrub oak acorns, but Acmispon prostratus is so rare that it’s been hard for people to settle on a common name for this herbaceous perennial that makes coastal San Diego its home. Some folks call it Nuttall’s acmispon; others refer to the plant as Nuttall’s lotus; still other may say wire bird's-foot trefoil or beach lotus. So many names for a plant that is confined to the coast, beaches, and dunes along southern California and northern Baja, Mexico!