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