Common Bird's-foot-trefoil
Lotus corniculatus
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in fields, roadsides, and waste places. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Arkansas. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- About 2.4 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
Do not plant. Listed invasive in Arkansas.
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- June to September
- Fruiting season
- Spring to summer
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 3 Arkansas counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
10CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
Genus host records with ranges including AR · Lotus
- Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
- Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
- Colias philodiceClouded Sulphur, Clover Butterfly
- Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
- Epargyreus clarusSilver-Spotted Skipper
- Gesta funeralisFunereal Duskywing
- Glaucopsyche lygdamusSilvery Blue
- Leptotes marinaMarine Blue
- Ostrinia penitalisAmerican Lotus Borer, Lily Moth
- Xenotemna pallorana
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
3BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lotus
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Callipepla gambeliiGambel's Quail
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Single crown
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Spring
- Fruit ends
- Summer
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Single crown” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “About 2.4 feet” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · USDA PLANTS
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Birds Foot Trefoil; Common Bird's foot trefoil; Eggs And Bacon
Conservation status
| Arkansas rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AR status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas (2013)
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Arkansas occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications