Trifolium arvenseL. Rabbit-foot Clover

Trifolium arvenseL. - Rabbit-foot Clover

Scientific Description:

Erect or ascending annual, 5−30 cm. Stipules ovate-oblong with a long cuspidate tip. Leaflets 1−2 cm, linear-oblong to narrowly elliptic, dentate, mucronate. Inflorescence ovoid to cylindrical, elongating in fruit, shortly pedunculate. Calyx tubular-campanulate, spreading-hairy, 10-nerved; teeth setaceous, acute, often purplish or pink; throat open, villous. Corolla white or pink, 3−6 mm, persistent, much shorter than the calyx, the wings glabrous.

 

var. arvense

Erect, robust plants, stems densely hairy; calyx 4.5−7.0 mm, plumose, teeth 2−3 × as long as the tube.

 

Flowering time: March−May.

Habitat: Grassy and waste places, in open communities generally, s.l. −2300 m.

 

Reference:

Zohary M (1970). Trifolium arvense L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 3: 431−432.

Public Description:

Trifolium arvense var. arvense, known as “rabbit-foot clover”, is native to most of Europe and western Asia. It is an annual plant with purplish or pink flowers, and grows up to 30 cm in length. Like all clovers, it has leaves divided into three sessile leaflets. Like most legumes, when planted on low-yield soils, it fixes nitrogen, thus the soil fertility is increased. It is also consumed by sheep and goats during grazing.

 

References:

Anonymous (2016). https:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifolium_arvense /, Accessed date: 13.02.2016.

Keskin M (2012). Trifolium L., In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 488–498.