Fabaceae

Peas, vetches and clovers

From Streeter et al., 2016, 'Family Key':

"Flowers irregular.

Flowers typically shaped like that of a Sweet Pea; sepals 5, united; petals 5, with a large standard petal, 2 wing petals and a lower lip of 2 united petals; stamens 10, united into a tube; fruit usually a pod"

For the specimen(s) below, hover over image in gallery for description and select for a full screen preview.

ID: 025

Date: 30 May 2024

Locality: Brean Down

Location (Lat/Long): 51.324, -3.012

Landscape/habitat: On a cliff, south-facing.

Identification notes: I spotted this whilst climbing up steps to Brean Down. I was able to take some photos on the way down but couldn't pause for long as I was helping my kids down the steep steps! I believed it was a birds-foot-trefoil but without my field guide I used Flora Incognita (Mäder and Wäldchen, 2024) to identify species.

Checking in Streeter et al. (2016, p.278), I can see that Common L. corniculatus is found on 'cliffs' and Hairy L. subbiflorus found on 'coastal cliff-top grassland' which are the 2 that match the habitat. There is a key to Bird's-foot-trefoils Lotus provided but without the specimen it is not possible to see all the features in the photos to determine it. However, L. corniculatus is stated to flower Jun-Sep, whilst L. subbiflorus flowers Jul-Aug; so in likelihood the app identification of Common Bird's-foot-trefoil Lotus corniculatus is probably correct.

Name: Common Bird's-foot-trefoil, Lotus corniculatus

References

Mäder, P. and Wäldchen, J. (2024) Flora incognita. Technische Universität Ilmenau, Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie Available at: https://floraincognita.com/ (Accessed: 14 May 2024).

Streeter, D., Hart-Davies, C., Hardcastle, A., Cole, F. and Harper, L. (2016) Collins wild flower guide. Revised and updated 2nd edition. edn. London: William Collins.