2 CIRCULAR 6 2 5, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Oregon, where it first became naturalized, it has spread until now it 

 is found over a comparatively large area. Floras of the eastern 

 United States first listed L. corniculatus about 1900 (/). In the 

 northwestern United States, it is first mentioned by Nelson (6) in 

 1917 as occurring in ballast near Portland. Specimens in herbaria 

 show that plants were collected in New Jersey as early as 1876; in 

 North Carolina and New York in 1885; and in Alabama in 1888. 



The limited experience with both birdsfoot trefoil and big trefoil 

 in the United States follows the pattern of the experience in Europe, 

 Australia, and New Zealand, indicating that these plants are adapted 

 to at least limited sections and can be used for forage and pasturage. 



Figure 1, 



-A pure stand of birdsfoot trefoil just past full bloom, 

 similarity to a thick stand of alfalfa. 



Note the 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 



Birdsfoot trefoil is a long-lived herbaceous perennial with a well- 

 developed branching taplike root with few to many stems developing 

 from each crown. The plants for the most part are erect or ascending 

 and attain a height of from 12 to 30 inches. Th« stems are compara- 

 tively slender, branch to some extent, and are moderately leafy. 

 Each leaf has three leaflets, borne at the end of a short petiole, and 

 has a cloverlike appearance. Usually the leaflets are obovate but 

 vary widely with varieties and are sometimes almost linear. 



Big trefoil has the general characteristics of birdsfoot trefoil but 

 differs in having more flowers in each raceme and in having spreading 

 rhizomes that are lacking in birdsfoot trefoil. Both big trefoil and 

 birdsfoot trefoil have the general appearance of fine-stemmed alfalfa 



(%. i). 



