The plant in the photograph is everywhere in local farmers fields which have been left uncut. I looked through my book ‘Encyclopaedia of Arable Weeds’ and found nothing similar. I imagine therefore it must be deliberately planted; perhaps to bring Nitrogen into the soil as it looks a bit cloverish? I.D. appreciated. Thank you
Thank you for your reply. Looking up this plant on the internet it appears it is very valuable as a nitrogen fixer where it is wanted in agriculture and a pesky weed where it is not.
Similar looking is Black Medic, Medicago lupulina, which I enjoyed pulling from my lawn this very afternoon. Medicago lupulina - Wikipedia
Further inspection maybe needed after reading this... https://botsocscot.wordpress.com/2020/06/28/lesser-trefoil-and-black-medick-how-to-tell-them-apart/
I have read the text, looked through a magnifying glass at my new samples and I do think it is Lesser trefoil, but not to 100%. One wonders if both seeds are sold to the farming community to increase soil nitrogen and to eventually be harvested as hay? One also wonders (out of interest) which plant fixes more nitrogen and which is more adaptable to various climates and aspects, growing under the shade of also planted grasses and so forth? The photo is the bunch of meadow I picked this morning.
