WorldFloraDB - Ornithopus sativus

Characteristics

Spreading prostrate annual; stems sparsely to densely hairy, ribbed. Lvs densely hairy; leaflets subsessile, elliptic or oblong, acute and shortly mucronate, in 7-15 pairs, 3-12 mm long; stipules somewhat adnate to petiole, triangular to ovate, minute. Heads 3-6-(8)-flowered; bracts subtending the heads with (3)-5-9 leaflets; bracteoles subtending fls minute, scarious; peduncles > or ± = lvs. Calyx sparsely to moderately hairy; calyx teeth lanceolate, about = or < tube. Corolla white to pink with reddish stripes on standard, (6)-7-10 mm long. Pod densely hairy when young, becoming less so or glabrous when mature, constricted between seeds, veined, curved or straight, compressed, 12-30 mm long, with 3-7, 1-seeded segments; seeds smooth, brown.

More

Erect or ascending, pubescent annual 2–7 dm; lvs 4–7 cm; lfls 9–18 pairs, 4–8 mm; peduncles 2–4 cm, from the upper axils; heads 2–6-fld, subtended by a pinnate leafy bract; fls white or pink, 5–9 mm; fr with 3–5 strongly nerved oval joints each 3–4 mm, the terminal one beaked; 2n=14. Native of the Mediterranean region, established on Long Island. June–Aug.

Life form	annual
Growth form	herb
Growth support	free-standing
Foliage retention	-
Sexuality	hermaphrodite
Pollination	entomogamy
Spread	epizoochory
Mature width (meter)	-
Mature height (meter)	0.7
Root system	-
Rooting depth (meter)	-
Root diameter (meter)	0.3
Flower color
Blooming months	-
Fruit color	-
Fruiting months	-
Nitrogen fixer
Photosynthetic pathway	c3

Environment

Along the sides of roads and as a weed of cultivated ground. Naturalized on china clay waste in south-eastern Cornwall.

Light
Soil humidity
Soil texture
Soil acidity
Soil nutriment
Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

Uses	animal food breeding environmental use fodder forage green manure manure poison soil improve vertebrate poison
Edible	-
Therapeutic use	-
Human toxicity	-
Animal toxicity	-

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.

Mode	seedlings
Germination duration (days)	-
Germination temperacture (C°)	-
Germination luminosity	-
Germination treatment	-
Minimum temperature (C°)	-
Optimum temperature (C°)	15 - 20
Size	-
Vigor	-
Productivity	-