Ornithopus sativus
Serradella
an annual or perennial member of the Ornithopus genus in the family Leguminosae.
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Leguminosae
- Genus
- Ornithopus
- Life cycle
- annual, perennial
- Height
- 0.7 m
- Flower type
- hermaphrodite
Uses
Material uses
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
A good green manure crop, fixing atmospheric nitrogen and forming a good weed-excluding ground cover[2].
Ecology and functions
Environment
- Range
- South-western Europe. Naturalized in south-west Britain.
- Habitat
- Along the sides of roads and as a weed of cultivated ground[4]. Naturalized on china clay waste in south-eastern Cornwall.
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- light shade
- Water
- moderate
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral, alkaline
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Seed -
Cultivation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
This species is occasionally cultivated as a green manure crop[3]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[1].
References
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959-00-00
? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964-00-00
Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968-00-00