Trifolium purpureumLois. Purple Clover

Trifolium purpureumLois. - Purple Clover

Scientific Description:

Erect or ascending, rarely decumbent, ± adpressed-pubescent annual, 10−30(−50) cm. Stipules oblong-lanceolate, free portion long-subulate. Leaves all alternate. Leaflets (1−)2−4(−6) cm, oblong-lanceolate to linear, acute, mucronulate. Inflorescences ovoid to conical in flower, cylindrical in fruit, pedunculate. Calyx to c.1 cm, tubular, hirsute, 10-nerved; teeth subulate-setaceous, blunt, equal or unequal. Fruiting calyx with spreading or divergent teeth; mouth closed by a 2-lipped callosity. Corolla purple, lilac or whitish, 10−25 mm, exserted from the calyx.

var. purpureum

Flowering heads elongate-cylindrical, 2−4 cm or more long; flowers mostly compact, very numerous, usually 17−25 mm; fruiting heads 3−6 cm long; plants mostly erect; leaflets mostly oblong-elliptic.

Flowering time: January−July.

Habitat: Fields, stony ground, roadsides etc., s.l.−1300 m.

Reference:

Zohary M (1970). Trifolium purpureum Lois., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 3: 435.

Public Description:

Trifolium purpureum var. purpureum, known as “purple clover”, is native to southern Europe from Portugal to Romania, the Crimea to Israel and to North Africa from Egypt to Morocco. It is an annual plant with purple, lilac or whitish flowers, and grows up to 50 cm in length. It blooms between January and July and is found in fields, stony ground, roadsides. It is commonly used in Arab folk medicine to treat diarrhea, menstrual irregularities, skin damage, cough, rubella, and for stress, nervousness and insomnia.

References:

Anonymous (2018). http://eol.org/pages/703432/overview /, Accessed date: 25.03.2018.

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.