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Lotus corniculatus L.

Overview
General Information
ID Info
Similar Species
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Aperçu
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Family :

Famille :

Fabaceae

Synonym(s) :

Synonyme(s) :

Lotus ambiguus Besser ex Spreng. (USDA-ARS 2024)

Lotus balticus Miniaev (USDA-ARS 2024)

Lotus carpetanus Lacaita (USDA-ARS 2024)

Lotus komarovii Miniaev (USDA-ARS 2024)

Lotus major Scop. (USDA-ARS 2024)

Lotus olgae Klokov (USDA-ARS 2024)

Lotus ruprechtii Miniaev (USDA-ARS 2024)

Lotus tauricus Juz. (USDA-ARS 2024)

Common Name(s) :

Nom(s) commun(s) :

Bird’s-foot trefoil

(English) (USDA-ARS 2024)

Lotier corniculé (French) (USDA-ARS 2024)

Hornklee (German) (USDA-ARS 2024)

Ginestrino (Italian) (USDA-ARS 2024)

Miyakogusa (Japanese) (USDA-ARS 2024)

Cornichão (Portuguese) (USDA-ARS 2024)

Cuernecillo del campo (Spanish) (USDA-ARS 2024)

Käringtand (Swedish) (USDA-ARS 2024)

Bai mai gen (Chinese) (USDA-ARS 2024)

Lotus corniculatus seeds

  • Lotus corniculatus seeds

  • Lotus corniculatus seeds, three views

  • Lotus corniculatus seeds, various views

  • Lotus corniculatus seed, hilum and lens

  • Lotus corniculatus seed, hilum view

  • Lotus corniculatus legumes

  • Lotus corniculatus legumes

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Explore plus :

Overview

Aperçu

Regulation :

Remarques Réglementation:

    Regulation Notes:

    Distribution :

    Répartition :

    Lotus corniculatus is native to temperate Eurasia, the Mediterranean, eastern tropical Africa, Macaronesia, and the southwest Arabian Peninsula and has been introduced to Japan, Korea, Iceland, Tasmania, and parts of Australia, New Zealand, Mongolia, the Americas, and South Africa (POWO 2024).

    In Canada, Lotus corniculatus is introduced throughout the southern provinces and the Yukon (‌Brouillet et al. 2010+).

    Lotus corniculatus has been introduced into most of the United States, excluding Nevada, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, and South Carolina, and is also found on the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon (USDA-NRCS 2024).

    Habitat and Crop Association :

    Habitat et Cultures Associées :

    Lotus corniculatus is widely established in the temperate world in disturbed and ruderal sites (WFO 2024). It can frequently be found in old fields and along roadsides, especially where it is used in conservation planting (Penn State University 2023). It can also be found in woodland meadows, coastal sand habitats, rocky crevices, and cultivated sites (Beuselinck and Steiner 1999).

    Lotus corniculatus often appears in under-fertilized lawns and turfgrass fields, especially when mowed at higher heights (Penn State University 2023). Otherwise, it does not appear to be a common crop pest.

    Economic Use, cultivation area, and Weed Association :

    Utilisation économique, zone de culture et association de mauvaises herbes :

    Lotus corniculatus is cultivated as a forage crop worldwide, including in Europe, southern South America, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States (Putnam 2014).

    It is primarily used in pasture, offering an excellent complement to seeding with cool-season perennial grasses with its high palatability, good winter hardiness, and fair drought tolerance; compared to most legumes, it does not cause bloating in grazing animals, has a better leaf-to-stem ratio, and a long stand life if not overgrazed (Undersander et al. 1993; Bush 2002; Johnson 2020). It can also be used as a hay crop in poorly drained acidic soils where Medicago sativa L. (alfalfa) does not perform well (Undersander et al. 1993).

    The higher tannins in Lotus corniculatus can have therapeutic and preventative effects on Haemonchus contortus infections in lambs, making it useful in a systems approach to controlling gastrointestinal nematode parasites in grazing sheep (Mata-Padrino et al. 2018).

    Feeding Lotus corniculatus hay to dairy cattle enhances their neutral detergent fibre digestion (Christensen et al. 2015). If used instead of alfalfa in high-forage dairy diets, it improves nitrogen utilization efficiencies, reducing nitrogen in waste excretion while still maintaining good milk production (Christensen et al. 2015).

    Lotus corniculatus is sometimes used as a moderately drought—and salt-tolerant perennial cover crop to improve soil and control erosion (Bush 2002; Crothers 2021).

    Although Lotus corniculatus nectar yields can vary widely among the different varieties, it is still considered useful in honey production (Murrell et al. 1982).

    It provides good wildlife values for Canada goose, deer, and elk and is used for pheasant cover on shooting preserves and around ponds at duck clubs (Bush 2002).

    Lotus corniculatus is vulnerable to competition from vigorous grasses like Lolium perenne L. (perennial ryegrass) and Lolium xhybridum Hausskn. (short-term or hybrid ryegrass) (New South Wales Government 2017).

    In Manitoba, Canada, perennial weeds reported to affect Lotus corniculatus are Elymus repens (L.) Gould subsp. repens (quackgrass), Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. (Canada thistle), and Taraxacum officinale F. H. Wigg. (dandelion) (Government of Manitoba n.d.).

    Duration of Life Cycle :

    Durée du cycle vital:

    Perennial

    Dispersal Unit Type :

    Type d’unité de dispersion :

    Seed

    General Information

    RENSEIGNEMENTS GÉNÉRAUX

    Beuselinck and Steiner (1999) report that Lotus corniculatus has high genetic variability and a high degree of intraspecific hybridization. This results in a wide range of morphological variation in traits, including growth habit, degree of hairiness, leaf colour, flower number per umbel, reproductive compatibility, root morphology, chromosome karyotypes, forage quality characteristics, insect resistance, and molecular biochemical constituents. This variability allows it to adapt to various environments but can also make it difficult to distinguish it from other closely allied species within the L. corniculatus complex.

    There are five currently recognized subspecies, including Lotus corniculatus subsp. afghanicus Chrtková, Lotus corniculatus subsp. corniculatus, Lotus corniculatus subsp. delortii (Timb.-Lagr.) Nyman, Lotus corniculatus subsp. fruticosus Chrtková, and Lotus corniculatus subsp. preslii (Ten.) P. Fourn. (POWO 2024; WFO 2024).

    Lotus corniculatus is weakly self-incompatible and requires insects for cross-pollination, with inadequate pollination making low seed yields common (Murrell et al. 1982). When it does produce seeds, it can produce 18,000 hard-coated seeds per plant, launched from its seed pods 1.75m from the parent plant; seeds can survive ingestion by animals and fire and may remain viable for 11 years (Nawrocki 2011). It can also reproduce vegetatively when roots are fragmented, when older stems lie on the ground and root in bare soil and can sometimes resprout when the aboveground portion is removed; some varieties have stoloniferous roots that can also assist in vegetative spread (Nawrocki 2011). It may become weedy or invasive in some areas and displace desirable vegetation (Bush 2002). It is most problematic in prairies and disturbed areas, forming dense mats that can shade and compete with native vegetation (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources n.d.).

    Lotus corniculatus is a moderately long-lived, perennial, cool season legume that is well adapted to humid, temperate regions and is one of the most drought tolerant forage legumes (Bush 2002; Putnam and Orloff 2014).

    Lotus corniculatus is an important legume in Central and Eastern Canada as it can grow on infertile acidic soils, which have poor drainage (Aasen and Bjorge 2009).

    There are three types of Lotus corniculatus based on growth habit: prostrate, erect and semi-erect (Casler and Undersander 2018). The prostrate type is low growing, more winter hardy and recovers more easily than the erect or semi-erect type. This makes it best suited for grazing (Casler and Undersander 2018). The erect type is best suited for haying, while the semi-erect types are more commonly grown as they can be used for both hay or grazing (Casler and Undersander 2018).

    The very fine stems of Lotus corniculatus make it easily prone to lodging (Casler and Undersander 2018).

    Regrowth of plants is heavily dependent on the leaf area; thus, it is important to leave 3-4 inches of stubble during harvest or grazing. Due to this it is also best practice to graze L. corniculatus stands rotationally and not continuously (Abaye 2018).

    .

    Lotus corniculatus growing on roadside (Katy Chayka, Minnesota Wildflowers, MinnesotaWildflowers.info)

    Identification

    Identification

    <
    >

    • Legume

      Size

      • Legume length: 20 mm – 25 mm; width: 2 mm – 4 mm (WFO 2024)

      Shape

      • Legume is cylindrical and tapers to a point at the end

      Surface Texture

      • The surface of the legume is scurfy
      • There are no hairs on the legume

      Colour

      • Mature legumes are brown
      • Immature legumes are green or greyish green

      Other Features

      • The legume contains 10 to 25 seeds (E-flora BC 2024)
      • Mature legumes extend outwards from the stem and look like a bird’s foot (Bush 2002)
      • At the time of maturity, the legume splits into two parts along longitudinal sutures to allow dispersal of the seeds
      • Both sides of the legume remain attached to the calyx and pedicel after it splits in half, and they become twisted

      Lotus corniculatus legumes

    <
    >

    • Seed

      Size

      • Seed length: 1.3 mm – 1.8 mm; width 1.0 – 1.3 mm (Reaume 2009)

      Shape

      • Seeds are a rounded heart shape
      • There is no divergence of the radicle from the cotyledons
      • The hilum is round

      Surface Texture

      • Seed surface texture is smooth
      • The hilum is rough and covered in small pieces of flakey tissue

      Colour

      • Seeds are one or more of the following colours: light to medium brown, green, greenish brown, brownish yellow, yellowish brown
      • Seeds may be a single colour or have few to several dark brown spots. Additionally, seeds may have a background colour of light brown or yellowish-brown, with medium brown mottling. Seeds mottled in this way may additionally have dark brown spots
      • There is a dark brown spot on the surface of the seed above the radicle tip
      • Sometimes a thick, dark brown line extends from the radicle tip to the hilum and surrounds the hilum
      • Sometimes there is a yellowish-brown coloured line circling the hilum
      • The hilum is off-white to light brown

      Other Features

      • The small area between the radicle tip and the hilum is flat

      Lotus corniculatus seeds

    <
    >

    • Embryo

      Size

      • The embryo fills most of the seed (Lionakis Meyer and Effenberger 2011)

      Shape

      • The embryo is bent

      Endosperm

      • The endosperm is thin and surrounds the embryo (Lionakis Meyer and Effenberger 2011)
      • Nutritive tissue is stored in the cotyledons

      Other Features

      • The embryo is in the axial position

    Identification Tips

    CONSEILS POUR L’IDENTIFICATION

    When trying to identify Lotus cornicualtus pay particular attention to the size and the shape of the seed(s) you are looking at.

    Lotus corniculatus seeds, three views

    Additional Botany Information

    AUTRES RENSEIGNEMENTS BOTANIQUES

    Flowers/Inflorescence

    • Flowers in 3-12 cm long stalked head-like umbels from the upper axils made of (2)4-7(8) spreading flowers (WFO 2024)
    • Bracts (1) 3 subtend the umbels, are sessile, leaf-like, and are 5-7 mm long ± equal to the calyx (WFO 2024)
    • Individual flower stalks are 1-3 mm long (WFO 2024).
    • Ca­lyx is a tube 3-6 mm long with unequal to nearly equal teeth that are narrowly triangular and may be shorter, equal, or longer than the tube (WFO 2024), typically reflexed away from the bud (Go Botany 2024)
    • Corolla is (9)10-18 mm wide, yellow, bright yellow, or partly to wholly orange-red, often bluish-black when dry (WFO 2024), made of standard, keel, and wing petals typical of the Faboideae subfamily
    • Standard petal is (7)10-16 mm long (WFO 2024), rounded to slightly notched at the tip, often with small red veins near the base
    • Keel petal is widened at the base and upturned in the middle at 90° (WFO 2024), mostly hidden by the two wing petals that surround it
    • Ovary is hairless, with a single 4-6 mm long style (WFO 2024)
    • Stamens 10 (Go Botany 2024), made of nine fused into a tube and one free one, also characteristic of the Faboideae subfamily
    • Sometimes confused with Anthyllis vulneraria L., but that one has palmately lobed bracts below its inflorescence and a fruit enclosed by its calyx (Go Botany 2024)
    • Lotus pedunculatus Cav. is similar but rarely has orange or red-tinged flowers, and the calyx teeth are more closely appressed to the bud (Vice County of Lanarkshire 2014)

    Vegetative Features

    • Extremely variable herbaceous perennials 15-80 cm tall from a taproot or (WFO 2024) occasionally stoloniferous roots (Nawrocki 2011)
    • Stems are clustered, cylindrical, or angular, solid, or hollow, usually lying along the ground, sometimes ascending; they may have scattered small white hairs, dense soft hairs, or become hairless with age (WFO 2024)
    • Compound leaves with five leaflets on a 2-7 mm rachis (WFO 2024) are sometimes described as three leaflets with two leafy stipules at the base (Undersander et al. 1993; Johnson 2020) because the lower two are separated from the three and found close to the stem
    • The 3 leaflets at the tip are egg-shaped and attached at the narrow end to a somewhat elongated teardrop-shape; 3-20 mm long by 2-10 mm wide; tips are obtuse to short-tapering; lateral two leaflets are oblique; basal leaflets separated from other 3 are egg-shaped and may appear stipule-like; leaf surfaces are primarily hairless (WFO 2024) but scattered hairs can sometimes be seen
    • Sometimes confused with Anthyllis vulneraria L., which has terminal leaflets that are longer than the lateral ones compared to more or less the same length in Lotus corniculatus (Go Botany 2024)
    • Lotus pedunculatus Cav. is a taller, erect plant with a hollow stem that is usually hairy (Vice County of Lanarkshire 2014)
    • Lotus tenuis Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd. is also similar, but its leaves are four times longer than wide, appearing much narrower than L. corniculatus (Harper 2023)

    Lotus corniculatus flowers (Katy Chayka, Minnesota Wildflowers, MinnesotaWildflowers.info)

    Similar Species

    ESPÈCES SEMBLABLES

    Similar species are based on a study of seed morphology of various species, and those with similar dispersal units are identified. The study is limited by physical specimen and literature availability at the time of examination, and possibly impacted by the subjectivity of the authors based on their knowledge and experience. Providing similar species information for seed identification is to make users aware of similarities that could possibly result in misidentification.

    Lotus uliginosus Schkuhr (big trefoil)

    The seeds of Lotus uliginosus are much smaller (length: 0.8 – 1.4 mm; FNA 1993+) than L. corniculatus. They are a rounded “D” shape. They occasionally have a mottled seed coat. They can be greenish yellow, green, light brown or medium brown in colour.

    Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don (Chinese lespedeza)

    Lespedeza cuneata seeds are a similar size (seed length*: 1.88 – 2.95 mm; width: 1.27 – 1.85 mm) as Lotus corniculatus with a similar round, light coloured hilum. Seeds are oval and slightly flattened. They range in colour from greenish brown to light or medium reddish brown, and they may have purplish brown mottling. The area of the seed coat around the hilum is dark brown. Although the hilum has a similar size, shape, and placement as Lotus corniculatus, it looks different. The hilum is surrounded by a whitish, almost translucent ring of tissue (rim aril). There is a small circular indentation in the middle of the rim aril.

    *Note: minimum and maximum based on a random selection of 12 seeds in a normal range of this species using image measurement protocol (ISMA 2020)

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    Reference(s)

    Référence(s)

    Aasen, A. and Bjorge, M. 2009. Legumes: Birdsfoot trefoil. In Kaulbars C. (Ed.) Alberta Forage Manual (2nd Edition): pp. 26-29. Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. Edmonton, Alberta. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/3c314aac-a373-424f-9636-eb69b40f416e/resource/17d48b63-90bd-49b4-ad88-78a618febcd9/download/120-20-1-2009.pdf

    Abaye, A. O. 2018. Legumes. In A. O. Abaye (Auth.) Common Grasses, Legumes and Forbs of the Eastern United States. Identification and Adaptation (2019): pp. 1-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813951-6.00001-7

    Beuselinck, P. and Steiner, J. 1999. Birdsfoot Trefoil Origins and Germplasm Diversity. https://doi.org/10.2135/cssaspecpub28.c5

    Brouillet, L., Desmet, P., Coursol, F., Meades, S.J., Favreau, M., Anions, M., Bélisle, P., Gendreau, C. and Shorthouse, D. 2010+. Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN). Online at http://data.canadensys.net/vascan Accessed November 29, 2024.

    ‌Bush, T., 2002. Birdsfoot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus L. Plant Symbol = LOCO6. United States Department of Agriculture Fact Sheet. https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_loco6.pdf

    Casler, M. D. and Undersander D. J. 2018. Chapter 2 – Identification of Temperate Pasture Grasses and Legumes in P. Sharpe (Auth.) Horse Pasture Management (2018): pp. 11-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812919-7.00002-0

    ‌Christensen, R., Yang, S., Eun, J., Young, A., Hall, J., MacAdam, J. 2015. Effects of feeding birdsfoot trefoil hay on neutral detergent fiber digestion, nitrogen utilization efficiency, and lactational performance by dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science, 98(11): 7982-7992. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2015-9348

    Crothers, L. 2021. Cover Crops Database. University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program. https://sarep.ucdavis.edu/covercrop

    Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia (E-Flora BC). 2024. Lotus corniculatus E-Flora BC Atlas Page Accessed December 4, 2024.

    ‌Go Botany. 2024. ‌Lotus corniculatus (garden bird’s-foot-trefoil). https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/lotus/corniculatus

    Government of Manitoba. (n.d.). Birdsfoot Trefoil Seed Production. Government of Manitoba Agriculture. Forages. https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/crop-management/forages/birdsfoot-trefoil-seed-production.html Accessed August 16, 2022.

    ‌Harper, L. 2023. Bird’s-foot Trefoil: An Excellent Plant. Lizzie Harper. https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2023/01/birds-foot-trefoil-an-excellent-plant

    International Seed Morphology Association (ISMA). 2020. Method for Seed Size Measurement. Version 1.0. ISMA Publication Guide.

    ‌Johnson, K. 2020. Birdsfoot Trefoil – An Underutilized Pasture Legume. Pest & Crop Newsletter. https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/newsletters/pestandcrop/article/birdsfoot-trefoil-an-underutilized-pasture-legume

    Lionakis Meyer, D.J., Effenberger, J.M. 2011. Identification of Large-seeded Members of the Subfamily Faboideae (Fabaceae), California Department of Food& Agriculture, Plant Pest Diagnostic Center, Sacramento, California.

    ‌Mata-Padrino, D. J., Belesky, D. P., Crawford, C. D., Walsh, B., MacAdam, J. W., Bowdridge, S. A. 2018. Effects of grazing birdsfoot trefoil–enriched pasture on managing Haemonchus contortus infection in Suffolk crossbred lambs. Journal of Animal Science, 97(1): 172. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/sky405

    Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. n.d. Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus). https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialplants/herbaceous/birdsfoottrefoil.html

    ‌Murrell, D. C., Shuel, R. W., and Tomes, D. T. 1982. Nectar Production and Floral Characteristics in Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.). Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 62(2), 361–371. https://doi.org/10.4141/cjps82-055

    Nawrocki, Tim. 2011. Birdsfoot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus L. Alaska Natural Heritage Program University of Alaska. https://accs.uaa.alaska.edu/wp-content/uploads/Lotus_corniculatus_BIO_LOCO6.pdf

    New South Wales Government. 2017. Lotus – Birdsfoot trefoil. https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/pastures-and-rangelands/species-varieties/pf/factsheets/lotus—birdsfoot-trefoil

    ‌Penn State University. 2023. Lawn and Turfgrass Weeds: Birdsfoot Trefoil – Lotus corniculatus L. Psu.edu. https://extension.psu.edu/lawn-and-turfgrass-weeds-birdsfoot-trefoil-lotus-corniculatus-l

    ‌Plants of the World Online (POWO). 2024. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published at http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org Accessed November 29, 2024.

    Putnam, D., and Orloff, S. 2014. Forage Crops. Encyclopedia of Agriculture and Food Systems, 381-405. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-52512-3.00142-X

    Reaume, T. 2009. 620 Wild Plants of North America. Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina.

    Undersander, Dan, Greub, L., Leep, R., Beuselinck, P., Wedberg, J., Smith, D., Kelling, K., Doll, J., Cosgrove, D., Grau, C., Peterson, S., Wipfli, M., and English, J. 1993. Birdsfoot trefoil for grazing and harvested forage. North Central Regional Extension Publication 474. https://cropsandsoils.extension.wisc.edu/files/2022/11/NCR474-Birdsfoot-Trefoil-for-Grazing.pdf

    United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS). 2024. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomysearch Accessed November 29, 2024.

    United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). 2024. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC, USA. https://plants.usda.gov/home Accessed November 29, 2024.

    Vice County of Lanarkshire. 2014. Lotus species – Bird’s-foot-trefoils — BSBI VC77. https://www.vc77botany.org/lotus-species-birdsfoottrefoils

    ‌World Flora Online (WFO). 2024. Available at: http://www.worldfloraonline.org Accessed November 29, 2024.

    Author(s)

    AUTEUR(S)

    Janessa Emerson, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada ssts@inspection.gc.ca

    Lyrae Willis, Environmental Science Freelance Writer lyraenatureblog@gmail.com

    Acknowledgements:

    To Krishan Shah, former student of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, for assistance with the literature search and summary.

    contactus@idseed.org

    Last updated
    on 2023-03-27

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