The Hop Trefoil is a cousin of the Birdsfoot Trefoil, and is quite as
plentiful. It grows all summer by the edge of the fields and in grassy
pastures.
You will easily recognise it by the flowers. These cluster together in
small round yellow heads like a tiny clover. In each head there are from
twenty to forty little flowers closely packed together. When you pick
one of these tiny flowers to pieces, you find that the petals are very
much the same as those of the Birdsfoot Trefoil. But they are so small
that you would require a magnifying glass to see them clearly, and to
discover the stamens and seed-vessels which are hidden inside.
When the flowers begin to fade, the petals do not fall off at once, but
they shrivel and become a pale-brown colour. Sometimes you find a flower
of which the lower half is quite brown and withered, while the upper
half remains golden yellow.
At the end of the flower-stalk you find a small oval green leaflet, and
close below this single leaflet comes a pair of dainty leaflets. On each
stalk there is always this triplet. The main stem is covered with fine
downy hairs, and you will notice that wherever a leaf-stalk joins this
stem there are two small green sheaths with points, which look as if
they were meant to cover the join.