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The Bird's foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus var. japonicus) belongs to Fabaceae (the Pea family). It is a perennial herb that is distributed widely to Japan, as well as Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and China. This herb grows in sunny roadsides or grasslands, and the stems crawl on the grounds. The peduncles are borne at the axils, and the 1-3, yellow, papilionacenous flowers bloom from April to October. Its Japanese name comes from the fact that it was once common in Kyoto. It is also known by the alternative name "eboshi-gusa" because the shape of its flowers resembles an eboshi hat. It resembles to Bird's foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus var. corniculatus) that is defined by the hairy stems and leaves, and the arrangement of annular 3-7 flowers around the peduncle. In Taiwanese Chinese. it is called "•S–¬�ª", and "Œõ—t•Sãõ�ª" (guang ye bai mai gen) in Chinese.
In Korean, it's called "beol-no-lang-i" (벌노랑이). This is a compound word consisting of "field" (beol: 벌) + "yellow flower" (no-lang-i: 노랑이). The name comes from the fact that it is a grass that grows in fields and produces particularly bright yellow flowers.
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