Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Lotus uliginosus

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, near Nerriga

Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, near Nowra

Common name

Bird's-foot trefoil, Greater bird's foot trefoil

Family

Fabaceae

Where found

Woodland, shrubland, moist grassy areas, along streams, and swamps. Widespread.

Notes

Introduced perennial herb to 0.8 m tall or prostrate. Stems hairless to sparsely hairy. Leaves alternating up the stems, compound, with 5 leaflets, each 0.4-2.5 cm long, 2-15 mm wide, tips pointed or more or less rounded, surfaces hairless to sparsely hairy, lower surface glaucous, the lower 2 leaflets usually smaller than the others. Flowers 10-12 mm long, pea shaped, with 5 petals, 2 joined together to form the keel, yellow to orange, often with reddish veins on the standard petal. Usually 8-14 flowers in a cluster. Flowers mainly Spring to Summer.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Lotus~uliginosus (accessed 24 January, 2021)