Bird's-foot Trefoil | Plant Information

Plant Data

Order:

Fabales

Family:

Fabaceae (Pea)

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Flowers:

Deep yellow pea-like flowers, often orange or tinged red, 2-7 in a head.

Fruit:

A straight, narrow brown seed pod (legume), up to 3mm long.

Leaves:

The leaves are alternate and stalkless. They are compound leaves with 2 or more leaflets. The leaflets are not toothed and are bluntly pointed.

Maximum Size:

40cm tall.

Foraging Notes:

All parts of this plant are poisonous. It contains hydrogen cyanide. The seeds are said to be edible but caution is advised because of its toxicity.
Never consume a wild plant unless you are 100% certain that it is safe to eat and you know that you have identified it correctly.

Aroma:

Flowers are fragrant.

Other Names:

Bacon and Eggs, Birdfoot Deervetch, Bloomfell, Boots-and-Shoes, Butter and Eggs, Cat Cluke, Cat-poddish, Cat's Clover, Cheesecake, Common Bird's-foot Trefoil, Common Trefoil, Crowtoes, Cuckoo's Stockings, Devil's Claws, Devil's Fingers, Dutchman's Clogs, Eggs and Bacon, Fingers and Thumbs, Garden Bird's-foot Trefoil, God Almighty's Flowers, God Almighty's Thumbs and Fingers, Golden Slippers, Granny's Toenails, Ground Honeysuckle, Ham and Eggs, Hen and Chickens, Jack Jump About, Kitty Two-shoes, Lady's Boots, Lady's Fingers, Lady's Fingers and Thumbs, Lady's Glove, Lady's Shoes and Stockings, Lady's Slipper, Lamb's Sucklings, Lamb's Toe, Milkmaid, Our Lady's Cushion, Patten and Clogs, Pig's Pettitoes, Sheepfoot, Tom Thumb, Venus's Shoe.

Habitats:

Farmland, grassland, lawns, meadows, moorland, riverbanks, roadsides, rocks, wasteland, wetland.