I’m encountering an odd problem with the species pages for bog bird’s foot trefoil. The scientific names Hosackia pinnata and Lotus pinnatus bring you to two different sites, despite the two being listed as synonyms by E-flora bc, calflora and the Jepson herbarium website. In addition, although both are recorded at the only canadian occurrence of the species, only Lotus pinnatus is listed as a species at risk, despite the species being red-listed in British Columbia. The common name bog bird’s foot trefoil, which is usually used in BC brings you to the Lotus pinnatus page, which shows only observations form the Harewood plains area of Nanaimo. The common name meadow bird’s foot trefoil gives a more accurate distribution, showing records from Nanaimo to northern California. I’ve included the links to the two different pages here.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/77457-Hosackia-pinnata
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/164835-Lotus-pinnatus
There’s not really that much to explain as far as how one encounters the problem, there are two different species pages with different distribution maps and conservation statuses which should be the same species, with a conservation status of critically imperilled in Canada. If there was an extremely recent split in the world of bird’s foot trefoil taxonomy I apologize for the error but I believe there is an issue with the species pages. Here is a screenshot of one of the species pages since the forum won’t let me post two yet.
