bird's foot trefoil
- noun
- /bɜrdz fʊt ˈtrɛfɔɪl/
:
trébol pie de ave
- The bird's foot trefoil is a favorite forage plant for livestock due to its nutritious flowers.
Examples
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Conservationists often plant bird's foot trefoil to improve habitats for butterflies and bees.
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The meadow was dotted with bird's foot trefoil, adding splashes of yellow among the grass.
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We identified several wildflowers, including bird's foot trefoil, along the roadside.
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Look at that bird's foot trefoil over there!
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The bird's foot trefoil blooms beautifully in spring.
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The meadow was dotted with bird's foot trefoil, adding splashes of yellow among the grass.
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Conservationists often plant bird's foot trefoil to improve habitats for butterflies and bees.
Synonyms
A low, long-lived plant with yellow flowers and claw-shaped seed pods used for farm animal feed
A small European wild plant with bright yellow and orange flowers
A small European plant with claw-shaped pods that farm animals eat
A European plant grown for animal food with claw-shaped seed pods
Surface Forms
Morphology
The name is a descriptive compound: 'trefoil' denotes a three-leaved/pea-family plant and 'bird's foot' describes the shape of its seed pods, so the plant’s identity is directly inferable from the constituents. This kind of transparent, form-based botanical naming follows normal composition patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the words involved.
Etymology
Bird's foot trefoil is named for how the plant looks: its long seed pods spread out like a bird's foot and the trefoil part means 'three leaves'. That's why the name today means 'a small plant with yellow flowers and seed pods that look like a bird's foot', often grown for animals to eat.
