Macro shot #1 of “Birdsfoot Trefoil”
Location: the Fletcher Conservation Area in Ottawa, Ontario. The area is the site of a very old homestead now reverted to the wild.
Shot on a July evening, 2012.
Further details from Andy’s Northern Ontario Wildflowers
Flower: Yellow; flat-topped terminal clusters; 1 cm long; turn red as the flowers age; June – September.
Stem: Reclining or trailing.
Leaves: Clover-like; compound; 3 ovate leaflets about 1 cm long.
Height: 15-60 cm; creeping and grows low to the ground.
Habitat: Commonly seen along roadsides, in fields, old pasture, and in disturbed areas.
Birdsfoot trefoil was introduced from Europe. A plant shaped like a bird’s foot? Birdsfoot trefoil gets its name from the slender, spreading seed pods that look like a bird’s foot. It is a legume and a member of the Pea family. Legumes take nitrogen from the atmosphere and fix the nitrogen in to the ground. This improves the quality of the soil and helps the other plants that grow near the Birdsfoot trefoil. Birdsfoot trefoil is also very tolerant of drought because of its deep roots.