Bird’s-foot trefoil
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Lotus corniculatus L.
Common name(s): bird’s-foot trefoil, garden bird’s-foot-trefoil, birdfoot deervetch
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- in flower, early May
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- flower stages, late June
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- leaf arrangement
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- flowers in umbels
Description:
– perennial
-herbacious
-legume
-can grow to a height of 2-3 feet
-flowers are arrange in a whorl
-leaves are
- entire
- 5 leaflets
– may be confused with Anthyllis vulneraria, but absent in Maine; see left sidebar of Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-lots of precipitation
-medium acidity
Agriculture:
-used for wind and erosion control
Management:
-grazing limits growth
-benefits from available phosphorous
-can displace vegetation
-may become weedy or invasive
Sources:
Bush, Tony. “BIRDSFOOT TREFOILLotus Corniculatus L.” Plant Fact Sheet, USDA NRCS Rose Lake Plant Materials Center, East Lansing, Michigan , Feb. 2002, plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_loco6.pdf.