Ottleya is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae (legumes). It is native to the southwestern United States (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah) and to Mexico.[1]
Ottleya belongs to a group of species traditionally placed in the tribe Loteae of the subfamily Faboideae. The taxonomy of this group is complex, and its division into genera has varied considerably. Many species of Ottleya were formerly placed in a broadly defined genus Lotus. A molecular phylogenetic study in 2000 based on nuclear ribosomal ITS sequences confirmed the view that the "New World" (American) and "Old World" (African and Eurasian) species of Lotus did not belong in the same genus. Ottleya was monophyletic.[2][3]