Home Weed ID Publications Dictionary Links FAQs Login About us		Plant Description: Name: birdsfoot trefoil Scientific Name: Lotus corniculatus Family: Fabaceae Type: Broadleaf Lifecycle: Perennial Habit: 1-2 feet tall plant that flowers from May to September and creeps along the ground. Leaves: Leaves have 5 elliptic, rounded or pointed leaflets, are rounded or pointed at the tip and taper to the base, have no teeth, are sparsely hairy, and up to 2/3 inch long and 1/3 inch wide. The first two leaflets are near the point of attachment and the other three are closer to the apex. Stems are hairy, erect or sprawling on the ground, branched, smooth, sparsely hairy, decumbent unless in fairly dense stands, and reach 20-40 or more inches in length. Leaf Arrangement: Alternate Characteristics: Is identified from all members of the pea family by its 5 leaflets and head-like umbels of bright, yellow flowers. Flower Seed Head: Several, 2/3 inch long, bright yellow or orange flowers, sometimes with red stripes, in head-like umbels with 5 sweet-pea shaped petals, bloom in the summer and fall. Seed Fruit: Fruits are smooth, cylindrical pods that are up to 1 3/4 inches long and have the shape of a bird's claw. Where Found: Open ground, heaths, roadsides, old fields, and disturbed soil. Control Options Related Plants Terms and Definitions Additional Images:
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