red clover

(Trifolium pratense)

Conservation Status
red clover
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

NNA - No Status Rank

SNA - No Status Rank

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Midwest

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FACU - Facultative upland

     
           
 
Description
 
 

Red clover is a perennial forb that rises on multiple stems from a taproot with rhizomes.

The stems are light green, hairy, and branching. They can be nearly erect, ascending, or reclining on the ground with just the tip ascending.

The leaves are alternate and compound, divided into 3 leaflets. The lower leaves are on long, hairy leaf stalks. The upper leaves are on short stalks or on no stalks at all. The leaflets are lance-shaped or egg-shaped, hairless, to 1 long, and ¼ to wide. The margins are finely-toothed or untoothed. The upper leaf surface is silky-hairy and has a pale V-shaped marking.

The inflorescence is several dense, globular, head-like clusters at the end of the stems. The flower heads are ½ to 1 tall and about 1 across. Each head has up to 25 to 80 flowers. There are usually 1 to 3 stalkless leaflets immediately below the flower head.

The flowers are pea-like, with 5 petals organized into a banner, 2 wings, and a keel formed by two petals fused together at the tip. The banner is longer than the wings and the keel. The individual flowers are stalkless. The petals are magenta to pink to nearly white, but never red. They gradually turn darker pink to rose as they age.

The fruit is a seed pod containing 1 or 2 seeds.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

1 to 2½

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

Magenta to pink to nearly white, but never red

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum) stems are hairless or nearly hairless. The leaflets have no markings on the upper surface and are not indented or pointed at the tip. The petals are pale pink to pinkish-white.

Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum ssp. incarnatum) stems are more hairy. The leaflets have no markings on the upper surface. The petals are crimson red.

White clover (Trifolium repens ssp. repens) is a much smaller plant, 4 to 10 tall. The stems are creeping and they root at the nodes. Flowers and leaves are borne on separate stalks. The leaflets have have a pale, crescent-shaped, not V-shaped, marking on the upper surface. The petals are white or white tinted with pink.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Disturbed sites

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

May to September

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

Red clover is an important forage crop. It has been cultivated since the third and fourth centuries.

Red clover is the state flower of Vermont.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 22, 28, 29, 30.

 
  4/4/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native to Northern Africa, Europe, and Western Asia. Introduced and naturalized. Invasive.

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common and widespread

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Superorder Rosanae  
 

Order

Fabales (legumes, milkworts, and allies)  
 

Family

Fabaceae (legumes)  
  Subfamily Faboideae  
  Tribe

Trifolieae

 
  Genus Trifolium (clovers)  
  Subgenus Trifolium  
  Section Trifolium  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

Up to seven varieties or subspecies of red clover have been described based on habits, calyces, stipules, and patterns of pubescence. In North American populations there is much intergradation, making determining the variety of some individual plants difficult or impossible.

 
 

Trifolium pratense ssp. kotulae

Trifolium pratense ssp. nivale

Trifolium pratense ssp. pratense

Trifolium pratense var. americanum

Trifolium pratense var. frigidum

Trifolium pratense var. luteopurpureum

Trifolium pratense var. maritimum

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Trifolium pratense var. frigidum

Trifolium pratense var. sativum

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

peavine clover

purple clover

red clover

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Rhizome

A horizontal, usually underground stem. It serves as a reproductive structure, producing roots below and shoots above at the nodes.

 
 
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Habitat

 
    red clover      
           
 

Plant

 
    red clover   red clover  
           
 

Inflorescence

 
    red clover   red clover  
           
    red clover      
           
 

Flowers

 
    red clover      
           
 

Leaves

 
    red clover   red clover  

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
  Trifolium pratense
Susanne Wiik
 
  Trifolium pratense  
 
About

Rødkløver, red clover

 
  Red Clover
Wez Smith
 
  Red Clover  
 
About

Red Clover (Trifolium pratense).

 
  Trifolium pratense
Matt Lavin
 
  Trifolium pratense  
 
About

Introduced short-lived perennial, stems ascending to erect, less than 70 cm tall, leaflets serrate at least distally, the terminal leaflet is sessile (like the lateral leaflets, which is true of all Trifolium species), flowering head enveloped by stipules of subtending leaves, pod 1-few-seeded, inconspicuous and concealed by the calyx, fruiting head retains the faded dry petals (which is true of all Trifolium species), common in lawns, fields, pastures, introduced as a forage crop.

 
  Red Clover
Andree Reno Sanborn
 
  Red Clover  
 
About

Trifolium pratense

The State Flower of Vermont

 
  Trifolium pratense RED CLOVER
Frank Mayfield
 
  Trifolium pratense RED CLOVER  
  Trifolium pratense (with translation text)
martaprat93
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on May 16, 2011

More information? Review:
Plants of future (http://www.pfaf.org),
GRIN - Taxonomic information (http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/...)

 

 

slideshow

       
 
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Other Videos
 
  Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) ~ Introduced Species
Wandering Sole TV
 
   
 
About

Published on Jun 23, 2013

I was quite surprised when I learned that red clover is an introduced species in North America. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa. Red clover is commonly found growing in disturbed soils and this is often where it was deliberately seeded in order to help with erosion control or to enhance the soil fertility of an area (through nitrogen fixation).

   
  Red Clover (Trifolium Pratense) - 2012-05-05
W3stlander
 
   
 
About

Published on May 7, 2012

Trifolium pratense (red clover) is a species of clover, native to Europe, Western Asia and northwest Africa.

---------------
De rode klaver (Trifolium pratense) is een overblijvende plant uit de vlinderbloemenfamilie (Leguminosae ofwel Fabaceae).

   

 

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