Lotus corniculatus. Common Bird’s foot trefoil. Crobh éin.

Description

Common name: Common Bird’s foot trefoil. Crobh éin.

General:
This population originates from Co Down. Irish Grid reference: J5737.
Perennial herbaceous plant. Beautiful bright yellow flowers from June to September. Takes its name from the seed pods which resemble a bird’s foot and the leaves look like clover leaves often displaying as three leaflets together.

Benefits:
The main food plant of the Common blue butterfly larvae as well as Six spot burnet and our endemic Cryptic wood white butterfly, as well as being loved by bumble bees.

Habitat:
Found in many habitats around Ireland, often in sandy places, old meadows, stone ditches.

Sowing guidelines:
In early spring, around March, scarify the seed – rubbing lightly between two pieces of sandpaper so as to scratch the surface of the seed coat. Use a hand lens to check. Soak for 3 hours in water before sowing onto the surface of moist compost in a seed tray and cover lightly with vermiculite. Protect from mice and keep moist, never let the surface dry out. You can cover the seed tray with a sheet of white plastic until you start to see seedlings emerge. Prick out into modules and bring on until large enough to plant out in situ.

Cultural history:
A traditional European medicine where the flowers were used as a seditative to calm the nervous and cardiac systems.

Avg contents: 80 seeds.