Lotus maculatus - Parrot's Beak
Lotus maculatus, the Parrot's Beak is one of the more spectacular trailing pot or groundcover plants around. Lotus maculatus will do best in a full sun, inland location, but will still perform well in partial shade. I put the Parrot's Beak on a south facing slope where there will be zero traffic. The stems are brittle enough to die back when they have been bent or crushed, even a little. Our Parrot's Beak plants have grown 3-6 inches tall and 6 feet or more in width. I have had the best luck with regular drip irrigation. Overhead water causes problems with leaf burn. I have had difficulties with Lotus maculatus when temperatures drop much below 28° F and like its dead kind of difficulties when temperatures drop into the low 20°s F. Lotus maculatus has a gold flowered form called Gold Strike, and a red flowered form called Amazon Sunset. The red form is pictured here.
Orange red striped flowers of Lotus maculatus Amazon Sunset - Parrot's Beak. High resolution photos are part of our garden image collection.
Orange red striped flowers of Lotus maculatus - Parrot's Beak. High resolution photos are part of our garden image collection.
Plants in the Lotus genus featured on this site:
Lotus crassifolius otayensis, Hosaka crassifolia * Otay Mountain Lotus
Lotus maculatus * Parrot's Beak
Lotus scoparius, Acmisphon glaber * Deerweed