Lotus corniculatus L.
birds-foot trefoil (bird's-foot trefoil)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
birds-foot trefoil (bird's-foot trefoil)
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
© Larry Halverson (Photo ID #81472)
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a rhizome; stems numerous, prostrate to trailing and often rooting at the nodes, to 60 cm long, glabrous to soft-hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound; leaflets 5, the lowest pair basal, somewhat stipule-like, short-stalked, nearly equal in size and shape to the 3 terminal leaflets, which are elliptic to egg-shaped, 5-15 mm long, usually minutely toothed and fringed with soft hairs; leaf axis 2-5 mm long, flattened; stipules tiny, gland-like.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a compact, stalked, axillary umbel of 2 to 8 pea-like flowers, the umbel-stalks stout, to 8 cm long; corollas yellow, often tinged with red, 8-15 mm long; calyces 1/3-1/2 as long as the corollas, hairy or glabrous, the linear to lanceolate teeth shorter than to as long as the tube.
Fruits:
Pods, narrowly oblong, 2-4 cm long; seeds 10 to 25, brownish-black, 1.5 mm long.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Yellow
Blooming Period:
Early Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Lotus corniculatus
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
671 | 122 | 1147 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
21 | 0 | 45 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
196 | 90 | 270 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
2 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
9 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
CDF(2), IDF(1), PP(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to dry roadsides, waste places, pastures and lawns in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; infrequent but increasing in S BC; introduced from Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Lotus corniculatus var. arvensis (Schkuhr) Ser. ex DC.
Lotus corniculatus var. ciliatus (Ten.) W.D.J. Koch
Lotus corniculatus var. tenuifolius L.