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Fabaceae
Lotus

not marked as a favorite taxon *Lotus corniculatus Linnaeus. Common name: Birdsfoot-trefoil, Eggs-and-Bacon. Phenology: Jun-Sep. Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. Distribution: Native of Eurasia. First reported for GA (Rabun County) by Stiles & Howel (1998).

Glossary (beta!)

Origin/Endemic status: Eurasia

Taxonomy Comments: Lotus corniculatus is probably an allotetraploid species derived from hybridization of Lotus tenuis and Lotus uliginosus. POWO (2024) accepts 5 subspecies, of which only ssp. corniculatus is known to be naturalized in North America.

Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, C, Can, F, FNA11.1, G, GrPl, Il, K4, Mi, Mo3, NcTx, NE, NS, NY, Pa, RAB, S, SE3, Tat, Tn, Tx, Va, W, WV, Isely (1981), Kramina et al (2018); < Lotus corniculatus L. — Isely (1998); > Lotus corniculatus ssp. corniculatus — POWO. Basionym: Lotus corniculatus L. 1753

Links to other floras: = Lotus corniculatus - FNA11.1

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Wetland Indicator Status:

  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACU
  • Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACU
  • Great Plains: FACU
  • Midwest: FACU
  • Northcentral & Northeast: FACU

Heliophily ⓘ: 8

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image #1 of Lotus corniculatus© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #2 of Lotus corniculatus© Erik Danielson source | Original Image ⭷
image #3 of Lotus corniculatus© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #4 of Lotus corniculatus© Erik Danielson source | Original Image ⭷

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Horticultural Information

NCBG trait

Intro: Prostrate to erect perennial of fields, roadsides and waste places. Native of Eurasia.

Stems: Stems numerous and sprawling from a single root crown, somewhat branched, smooth to sparsely hairy.

Leaves: Leaves alternate and essentially sessile, pinnately divided into 5 oblong-lance-shaped leaflets, each to ¾ in. long, the lower 2 of which resemble stipules; smooth to somewhat hairy.

Inforescence:

Flowers: Flowers in umbels of 3--12 on long stalks from upper leaf axils, yellow, ½ in. long, bilaterally symmetric, with typical pea-flower shape, including a pale green tubular calyx with long, narrow teeth.

Fruits: Fruit a cylindric (sometimes flattened), linear pod.

Comments:

Height: 1 1/2-2 ft.

plant sale text:

bloom table text:

description: Prostrate to erect perennial of fields, roadsides and waste places. Native of Eurasia.

stems: Stems numerous and sprawling from a single root crown, somewhat branched, smooth to sparsely hairy.

leaves: Leaves alternate and essentially sessile, pinnately divided into 5 oblong-lance-shaped leaflets, each to ¾ in. long, the lower 2 of which resemble stipules; smooth to somewhat hairy.

inflorescence:

flowers: Flowers in umbels of 3--12 on long stalks from upper leaf axils, yellow, ½ in. long, bilaterally symmetric, with typical pea-flower shape, including a pale green tubular calyx with long, narrow teeth.

fruits: Fruit a cylindric (sometimes flattened), linear pod.

comments:

cultural notes:

germination code:

native range:



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