Birds Foot Trefoil
Picture of Birds FootTrefoil Plant

Birds Foot Trefoil - Lotus corniculatus.
Time to see - June - September.
Height - 10 - 40cm
Birds Foot Trefoil is a member of the Pea family, the flower is yellow with a streak of red sometimes.

It gets it's common name of Bird's foot Trefoil from it's seed pods which are straight and many-seeded and resemble a bird's foot.

Another common name for this plant is Eggs and Bacon, but there are apparently over 70 different local names for this plant, which seems a lot.

It is an important food plant for the Common Blue Butterfly and other butterflies, so you can sometimes find their eggs on the ends of the leaves waiting to hatch into caterpillars.

Bird's-foot Trefoil has very deep roots and can survive for a long time, with plants living for 20 years of more, it likes well drained alkaline soil.
The type of plants found in a certain location can often indicate the type of soil.

It is found growing in patches mainly in Old Churchfurlong field.


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