Trifolium pratenseL. - Red Clover
Scientific Description:
Erect to decumbent perennial, 20‒60 cm. Stipules ovate-lanceolate, free portion abruptly mucronate or cuspidate. Leaflets l.5‒3.0(‒5.0) cm, obovate to broadly elliptic. Inflorescence globose to ovoid, 0.7‒2.2 cm wide, sessile or rarely pedunculate, usually with an involucre of stipules of diminished leaves. Calyx tubular campanulate, 10-nerved, patulous-hairy, rarely glabrous; throat of the tube open with an annular, hairy thickening. Corolla reddish-purple to pink, rarely whitish, 13‒18 mm.
Flowering time: May‒September.
Habitat: Meadows, roadsides, forest clearings etc., s.l.‒2300 m
var. pratense
Stems usually 20-40 cm, densely adpressed-hairy; leaflets 1.5‒3.0 cm.
var. sativum
Stems glabrescent or glabrous; corolla usually pink.
Reference:
Zohary M (1970). Trifolium pratense L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 3: 415.
Public Description:
Trifolium pratense var. pratense, common name “red clover”, is native to Europe, Western Asia and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalised in many other regions. It is widely grown as a fodder crop, valued for its nitrogen fixation, which increases soil fertility. For these reasons, it is used as a green manure crop. Several cultivar groups have been selected for agricultural use, mostly derived from this plant. It has become naturalised in many temperate areas, including the America and Australia as an escape from cultivation. Red clover is the national flower of Denmark and the state flower of Vermont, is a New England state in the northeastern United States.
References:
Anonymous (2015). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifolium_pratense, Accessed date: 05.07.2015.
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.
Zohary M (1970). Trifolium pratense L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 3: 415.