HARE'S FOOT TREFOIL 21 



The flowers are in egg-shaped or rounded, terminal, soft, rosy-white 

 heads which lengthen, with soft, hairy calyx-teeth much longer than 

 the corolla, giving the head a soft feathery appearance. The corolla 

 is papilionaceous, shorter than the calyx, and hidden amongst the 

 bristle-like teeth. The inversely egg-shaped fruits are enclosed by 

 the calyx and retained in the head when ripe. 



Hare's Foot Trefoil is usually about i ft. high. The flowers may 

 be sought in July and August. The plant is annual and increased by 

 seed. 



Though the flowers are very small they are visited by a variety of 



HARE'S FOOT TREFOIL (Tri folium arvcnse, L.) 



insects. The stamens are united as in other types of papilionaceous 

 flowers. Hare's Foot Trefoil is visited by Hymenoptera (Apidae), 

 Apis mellifica, Bombus rajellus, B. lapidarius, Cilissa leporina, Andrena 

 xantlmra, Halictus zonuhis, H. quadricinctus, Osmia calmentaria, 

 Megachile maritima; Sphegidse, Psammophila affinis\ Lepidoptera, 

 Small Skipper (Adop&a thaumas). 



The outer perianth is feathery and persistent, and winged, assisting 

 the fruits to some extent to disperse themselves by aid of the wind, or 

 they lie in the heads and the seeds germinate on the ground. 



Hare's Foot Trefoil is most at home on a sand soil, and is thus 

 a sand plant. It also grows on rocky, stony ground, Precambrian and 

 older granitic and metamorphic rocks. 



