Bird's-Foot Trefoil - Lotus corniculatus - Pied de poule

Today, I continue in my recent theme of posting about Fabaceae (legumes) introduced to North America as forage plants (see: Galega orientalis (fodder galega), Medicago sativa (alfalfa), Trifolium pratense (red clover). This time, I'm going to talk about Lotus corniculatus (bird's-foot trefoil).

Lotus corniculatus inflorescence

This species is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa [1], and has been introduced to most of North America (US range map here, Canada range map here), primarily as fodder (livestock animal feed). It is a member of the family Fabaceae (legumes) and, like most members of this family, is both a good feed plant and a nitrogen-fixing plant [1,2,3] (nitrogen fixing: removes nitrogen from the atmosphere and puts it into the soil). This plant can become invasive and choke out native plants in some places, especially grasslands [1,2,4].

Dense patch of Lotus corniculatus

Unlike many Fabaceae used for fodder (including Medicago sativa and Galega orientalis), Lotus corniculatus doesn't cause bloat in cattle and so is a desirable fodder crop [1,2].

Lotus conriculatus inflorescence

This plant reproduces primarily through its roots [1], can occasionally self-pollinate [5], but is mostly pollinated by large bees [5], which must be strong enough to pull apart the flowers to access pollen and nectar [5]. Lotus corniculatus produces large amounts of nectar and so is a desirable honey crop [5].

More Fabaceae: Red Clover - Trifolium pratense

So this week's posts have accidentally ended up with a unifying theme: I've been posting a lot about introduced species in the Fabaceae (legume family) brought to North America as feed crops. Primarily, I suppose, because a lot of the species in this family are just coming into bloom now, so I have a lot of them queued up for posting.

Trifolium pratense inflorescence

Trifolium pratense (red clover) is native to Europe [1,2,3] and is now found in most states, provinces, and territories in North America (US range map here, Canada range map here). This plant was originally brought to North America by settlers as a forage crop (food for grazing livestock) [1,2]. It is also, like many Fabaceae, a nitrogen-fixing plant [1,2].

Trifolium pratense inflorescence

This plant can frequently be found outside of farms, especially in disturbed fields, roadsides, parks, and unmown grassy areas [3].

Trifolium pratense general view

Trifolium pratense is edible and often used to make tea (I make herbal teas with it myself, it is sweet and tasty) [2], but because it is estrogenic [1,2] should not be consumed excessively by anyone with estrogen-sensitive conditions e.g. breast cancer [2] and is known to cause various health problems in livestock when improperly managed [4]. It has been touted as a treatment for a number of ailments but at present there is insufficient or conflicting evidence for most of these claims [5].

One rather pretty part of the plant that people rarely notice is the leafy casing that forms at stem junctions, and which looks rather like stained glass:

Trifolium pratense

Fodder Galega - Galega orientalis

Every now and then I find a plant I wasn't expecting. This is certainly the case for this charming beauty, found along one of the trails in the Mont-Royal park, which I confess to being intrigued about, because I wonder how it ever got there:

Galega orientalis

This is Galega orientalis, a plant native to Russia & environs [1,2]. It is a member of the Fabaceae (legume family), and like many plants in that family is a fixer of nitrogen [1] -- nitrogen-fixing plants are plants which take atmospheric nitrogen and put it into the soil; this is a very useful trait in agriculture (as nitrogen is one of the essential nutrients for plant growth), but not the primary agricultural use of this plant.

Galega orientalis inflorescence - raceme shape

So why was I surprised to find this plant in the park? Well, the plant has been introduced to North America as a fodder (animal feed) plant [1,2,3,4], so it's not surprising to find it somewhere on this continent so much as it is surprising to find it in the Mont-Royal park, relatively distant from any farms or agricultural operations.  There was only the one plant that I could find and it certainly wasn't there as animal feed. My guess would be that it was brought in on a dog's fur or on the clothes of a person involved with or near agricultural operations with this plant.

Galega orientalis inflorescences

G. orientalis is an excellent fodder plant, as it is relatively high in protein and other valuable nutrients [1,5], as well as hardy and tough, making it suitable for tougher conditions. Work is ongoing to determine the best cultivars for introduction of this plant in agriculture as far north as Alaska [4].

Galega orientalis flowers

G. orientalis is a perennial shrub with upright, non-climbing growth habit [3,5,6]. This plant is a good nectar-producer and is pollinated by bees [1,5].

It's also quite a beautiful plant. I'm often quite charmed by plants in the Fabaceae, many of them are quite beautiful. Of course, a great deal of the world agrees with me: the Fabaceae are not only popular in agriculture but in gardening all over the world; sweet peas, among others, are favourite ornamentals from this family. One of the distinctive characteristics of this family is the bilateral symmetry of the flowers (as opposed to the radial symmetry seen in many other families):

Galega orientalis : bilaterally symmetric flowers