Ottleya facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ottleya
Ottleya rigida
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Tribe:	Loteae
Genus:	Ottleya D.D.Sokoloff
Species
See text.

Ottleya is a group of flowering plants. These plants belong to the Fabaceae family, which is also known as the legume or pea family. You can find Ottleya plants growing naturally in the southwestern United States and in Mexico.

About Ottleya Plants

Scientists group living things like plants and animals into categories. This helps us understand how they are related. The way they are grouped is called taxonomy.

For a long time, many Ottleya species were thought to be part of a larger group called Lotus. However, scientists later used new methods to study these plants.

How Scientists Study Plants

In 2000, researchers used a method called molecular phylogenetics. This is like using a plant's DNA as a map to see its family tree. By looking at the DNA, scientists could tell which plants were closely related.

This DNA study showed that the Lotus plants from the Americas (the "New World") were different from those found in Africa and Europe (the "Old World"). It also confirmed that Ottleya plants form their own unique group. This means they are all closely related to each other, but not as closely to the Lotus plants from other parts of the world.

Species of Ottleya

As of February 2018, the Plants of the World Online database lists the following species within the Ottleya group: