Birdfoot Trefoil

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