Narrow-leaved Bird's-foot-trefoil

Narrow-leaved Bird's-foot-trefoil - Lotus tenuis

Description

Low to short often prostrate plant. Leaflets linear to lanceolate. Flowers bright yellow, 6 to 12 mm solitary, or in clusters of 2 to 4.

Identification difficulty
Recording advice

Photograph of the plant in habitat, plus close-ups photos of flowers and leaves

Habitat

Lowland grassy places, disturbed ground.

When to see it

Flowers June to August.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Local in eastern and south eastern England south of the Humber, rarer elsewhere.

VC55 Status

Uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland, introduced on some sites. In the The Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi & Evans) it was found in 1 of the 617 tetrads.

It was on the 2011 VC55 Rare Plant Register (Jeeves, 2011) but is not on the current RPR (Hall & Woodward, 2022); it is listed as 'data deficient' because it is not clear whether records are of introduced/escaped plants or natives.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records