Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus), a genus of Leguminosæ, sub-order Papilionacæ. The English name is derived from the resemblance of the clusters of pods to a bird's foot. The common species (L. corniculatus) is very abundant everywhere in Britain in pastures. It has a stem 6 to 12 inches in length, decumbent, and bearing umbellate heads of 8 to 10 yellow flowers, which have a rich honey-like smell. The plant has been sometimes regarded as the Shamrock (q.v.) of Ireland. It is eaten with great avidity by cattle, and its deeply penetrating roots adapt it well for very dry situations.—A larger species, otherwise very similar, with stem nearly erect, more compact heads of smaller flowers, and smaller seeds, is the Greater or Narrow-leaved Bird's-foot Trefoil (L. major), which also is a common native of Britain, generally found in moist, bushy places. The Winged Pea (L. Tetragonolobus), often separated as the type of a distinct genus on account of its quadrangular winged pods, is a native of the south of Europe, and was formerly cultivated in Sicily and Spain as an esculent; it is sometimes sown as an annual in flower-borders in Britain.