Bird's-foot

Lotus corniculatus

Bird's-foot - a low, many-stemmed perennial herb, 6-24 inches high. The leaves of bird's-foot are divided into five leaflets, the upper three clover like, the lower two in a pair at the base of each leafstalk. Numerous small yellow to orange flower heads (June-September) are clustered at the ends of long stalks and produce slender seedpods that end in a hornlike tip.

The Greek word lotos has been given to a number of plants, including the legendary shrub whose fruits were said to inspire happy indolence in those who ate them-the lotus eaters of mythology. The species name corniculatus, meaning "homed," derives from the slender curved tips of the flower bud, which resemble tiny horns. "Bird's-foot" refers to the slender seedpods that look like a bird's foot, and "trefoil" alludes to the plant's similarity to red clover, also known as trefoil.

The medicinal properties assigned to bird's-foot trefoil were discovered in the 19th century by the French herbalist Henri Leclerc. He had recommended an eyewash of sweet clover to treat an attack of conjunctivitis in a countrywoman who also suffered from a nervous condition that caused sleeplessness and heart palpitations. By mistake the distraught patient made a tea of bird's-foot trefoil and drank it. Her nervous troubles reportedly vanished in a week's time!

Bird's-foot may have been brought to North America for forage and fodder, a use it still has today. The leaves and flowering tops of bird's-foot were once a source of blue and yellow dyes for wool and cotton fabrics, and the flowers are said to furnish an excellent honey.

Other names

• Trefoil

Uses

Herbals classify bird's-foot trefoil as an antispasmodic and sedative and recommend it for the treatment of heart palpitations, nervousness, depression, and insomnia. There is no scientific evidence to validate these uses.

Habitat & cultivation

Introduced from Europe, bird's-foot trefoil is now found locally from Newfoundland south to Virginia, west to Ohio and Minnesota, and in northeastern Texas and on the Pacific Coast.

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