Common bird's-foot-trefoil

Common bird’s-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) is found in all parts of the British Isles in pastures, dry grasslands and on roadsides.

It has many alternative names, including “God Almighty’s thumb and finger”, “crow-toes” and “lady’s shoes and stockings” – indeed more than 70 folk names have been recorded for this plant, most of them referring to specific features of its appearance, such as the shoe-like flowers and the seed pods that resemble fingers or claws. The official name also refers to the pod shape and the division of the leaves into three leaflets, although there are also two other leaflets that grow close to the stem.

Common bird’s-foot-trefoil grows to a height of between 4 and 16 inches (10-40 cm). The upright stems grow from a solid woody stem that trails along the ground. The plant flowers from June to September.

The yellow flowers sometimes have red flushes or streaks that give rise to another of the 70 folk names, “bacon and eggs”. Butterflies are attracted to the flowers for nectar, but it is heavier insects such as bees and wasps that are responsible for pollination. Their weight forces pollen to be deposited on their bodies by the flower’s stamen and for pollen from a visit to another flower to be gathered by the stigma.

The butterflies mentioned above may well be those of the green hairstreak and dingy skipper, for both of which the common bird’s-foot-trefoil is a food plant for their caterpillars.

When the seed pods are ripe they twist and split – looking particularly claw-like – to release their seeds, several to each pod.

© John Welford