Is this birdsfoot trefoil?

[British Red]

It surely looked like it to me. I have seen it before in wild meadows and it looks very similar. Saw this plant today on a salt marsh in very large swathes...never seen birdsfoot trefoil grow like that so I thought I would ask

Heres the pic


Birdsfoot trefoil? by British Red, on Flickr

 

[marcusleftthesite]

Certainly looks like it.

 

[toilet digger]

if you found it on damp ground and in large patches, its more likely to be Dragon's teeth (tetragonolobus maritimus)

 

[British Red]

Thanks TD - my field guide states Dragon's teeth doesn't grow in Lincolnshire??

 

[Harvestman]

A good test is to pick a piece. If the stem is hollow, it is Marsh Birdsfoot Trefoil (sometimes called Greater BT) rather than the ordinary stuff. Dragon's Teeth is rare in britain.

 

[British Red]

aaaah - i'll do that next time I'm there. It certainly was in the marsh - mixed with big lumps of sea lavender.

 

[British Red]

Think you've nailed it HM - it was very tall compared to the stuff I've seen before

 

[toilet digger]

a good point but i'm referring to the 'rose' flower key and according to that the flowers are too large for an example of greater birds foot trefoil.
rare or not its possible.

 

[Harvestman]

TD has a good point. I can't say for certain what it is, because I don't know. My botany is improving, but nowhere near reliable yet, especially in awkward groups like peaflowers

 

[British Red]

Me either - I'll check the stem when I'm back there in my wellies

 

[toilet digger]

defo, try id-ing grasses ....... monumental ball ache!!!

 

[British Red]

Fun learning though. I moved here last year - from broad leafed wood and downland to salt marsh. Its such a different environment that its like starting again around here.

Thats wonderful though....lots of new and interesting things to see and learn - no buzzards - but marsh harriers and hen harriers. No Roe deer - but mink and badger galore - and more hares than you can shake a stick at. Not a ramsom in sight - but tonnes of marsh mallow and horse radish.

New stuff is great!

 

[Harvestman]

Few things are more satisfying than finding a new thing and learning what it is and how to recognise it next time.

 

[nodd]

It looks like it might be. Just completed a week of field trips doing plant,Butterfly and dragonfly ID my brain is still sorting all the information, but it was great fun.