Birdsfoot trefoil identify in MI nurseries

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Birdsfood trefoil - Lotus corniculatus L.

Life cycle: Mat-forming perennial.

Leaves: Alternate, compound with five generally oval and smooth-margined leaflets. Each compound leaf has three terminal leaflets and two reduced leaflets near the stem.

Stems: Prostrate and spreading to semierect stems are herbaceous, branched from a tough crown and up to 3 feet long. Plants form mats by stolons and rhizomes.

Flowers and fruit: Bright yellow, pealike flowers, sometimes streaked with red, are found in flat-topped clusters at the ends
of long stalks. Fruit are several linear, cylinder-shaped pods formed in the shape of a bird’s foot. Each capsule contains several roundish, shiny, olive to black seeds.

Reproduction: Seeds, stolons and rhizomes.


Birdsfoot trefoil plant.	Birdsfoot trefoil leaf.	Birdsfoot trefoil flowers.

The MSU IPM Program maintains this site as an access point to pest management information at MSU. The IPM Program is administered within the Department of Entomology, fueled by research from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, delivered to citizens through MSU Extension, and proud to be a part of Project GREEEN.
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Updated: 10/12/07