Go to Midwest Weeds Home Page

Birdfoot Trefoil

Lotus corniculatus L.

Fabaceae (Legume Family)

▲▼ plant growing in a lawn

▲ leaves and stem tip

▲▼ flowers

▲ plants with seed pods

 plants along a sidewalk

Birdsfoot Trefoil:

·         a perennial that can produces stolons & rhizomes to form large colonies; grows 6-8” tall and sprawls out from there to 12-18” or more

·         has 3-5 small leaflets; stems square at the top & round at the base

·         flowers are bright yellow, pea-like in terminal umbels (clusters)

·         used as for soil stabilization, roadsides & has escaped into lawns & other areas

·          indicator of infertile, dry soils

·         more common further north than here

 

Go to Midwest Weeds Home Page