Lotus corniculatus Seeds | Bird’s-foot Trefoil
LATIN NAME: Lotus corniculatus
COMMON NAME: Bird’s-foot Trefoil
Plant Profile
Bird’s-foot trefoil is a low, spreading perennial of the pea family, native to Europe, North Africa and temperate Asia and sown in pastures across the world. It grows ten to forty centimetres, with leaves of five leaflets, three at the tip and two at the base, and clusters of yellow, sometimes orange-flushed, pea flowers from May to September.
The ripe pods are long and slender, held in a cluster that looks like a bird’s foot, which gives the plant both its English and its Latin name. It has a deep taproot and a woody crown, and it spreads by short runners that root at the nodes. It is one of the few legumes that will grow on poor, lime-rich or slightly acid soil.
Science & Biotechnology
Bird’s-foot trefoil is a textbook case of a balanced polymorphism. The plant can make cyanogenic glycosides, linamarin and lotaustralin, together with the enzyme that releases hydrogen cyanide from them, and both traits are controlled by two genes. Populations are a mixture of cyanogenic and acyanogenic plants, and the proportion shifts with climate and with the slugs and snails that graze them, since cyanide is a defence against molluscs and costs the plant energy to make.
Its second chemical trick is condensed tannin, two to four per cent of the dry matter. The tannin binds protein in the rumen and protects it from being broken down too quickly, which is why cattle grazing bird’s-foot trefoil do not bloat, a serious problem with white clover and lucerne. Breeders have tried for decades to move that trait into other forage legumes.
Uses & Benefits
It is a valuable pasture plant on thin, dry or calcareous soils where clover fails, and it is often included in horse and sheep mixtures for its bloat-safe quality. Cultivars such as Leo and Empire are sold for grazing and for hay, though yield is lower than lucerne and the plants are slow to establish.
In a garden it is used in wildflower meadow mixes, on banks and as a ground cover that tolerates mowing and drought. It is the larval food plant of the common blue and several other butterflies, and its flowers are visited by long-tongued bumblebees that can reach the nectar. It also fixes nitrogen in poor soil and is sometimes sown as a living mulch under fruit trees.
Growing from Seed
Sow in spring or early autumn, on the surface of a firm, fine seedbed, at eight to twelve kilograms per hectare, or one gram per square metre. The seed is hard-coated, so scarify it or rub it with sandpaper before sowing, and inoculate it with the Lotus strain of Rhizobium, which is not the same as the clover strain.
The seedlings take fourteen to twenty-one days at 20 °C. Keep the sowing moist and weed-free, since the plants are small and slow at first. Lime the ground if the pH is below six, and avoid nitrogen fertiliser, which encourages grass at the legume’s expense. Once established, the plant persists for years and spreads by runners; cut it back after flowering to keep it tidy.
Our Take
The bloat-free legume for poor, dry ground, and a small plant with a large butterfly attached to it. Scarify the seed and be patient.
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