Trifolium repens

Plant Characteristics

Habit		herbaceous
Height:	⇕	2 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 2.
Width:	⇔	8 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 8. to 16 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 16.
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Bloom:	❀	early summer, mid summer, late summer

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	sun, part-sun
Features:	✓	flowers
USDA Zones:		4 to 10
Flower features:	❀	red, pink, white

Scientific Names

Fabaceae >

Trifolium >

repens >

White clover (Trifolium repens) is a species of clover native to Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. It has been widely introduced worldwide as a pasture crop, and is now also common in most grassy areas of North America and New Zealand.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant. It is low growing, with heads of whitish flowers, often with a tinge of pink or cream that may come on with the aging of the plant. The heads are generally 1.5-2 cm wide, and are at the end of 7 cm peduncles or flower stalks . The leaves, which by themselves form the symbol known as shamrock, are trifoliolate, smooth, elliptic to egg-shaped and long-petioled. The stems function as stolons, so white clover often forms mats with the stems creeping as much as 18 cm a year, and rooting at the nodes .

White clover grows among turfgrass, crops, and in a large number of other landscapes. It is also found in a limited range of different field type environments. White clover can tolerate close mowing, and can grow on many different types and pHs of soil, but prefers clay. It is considered to be a beneficial component of natural or organic lawn care due to its ability to fix nitrogen and out compete lawn weeds. Natural nitrogen fixing reduces leaching from the soil and can reduce the incidence of some lawn diseases that are enhanced by the availability of synthetic fertilizer.

ExpandRead about Trifolium repens in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Trifolium repens, Linn. White Clover. Low creeping glabrous perennial: lvs. long-stalked, the lfts. obcordate and obscurely toothed, the stipules small and scale-like: heads long-peduncled from the ground, small and loose: fls. white, fragrant. Eu. and thought to be native in the northern part of the U. S. and in Canada, but naturalized everywhere.—Much used in lawns, and in some parts prized for pasture. There are forms with red and purplish foliage. This is considered by most authorities to be the shamrock of Ireland. A form of it is offered as T. minus, "the genuine Irish shamrock." See Shamrock. Var. atropurpureum, Hort., is a dwarf form: lvs. bronze, edged with bright green. Var. pentaphyllum, Hort., is a creeping rock-plant: lvs. have a bronze luster. Var. purpureum, Hort., has fine bronzy purple foliage. The species assumes many forms. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Gallery

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• Trifolium repens f. roseum.jpg

  Trifolium repens f. roseum

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  Template:QI seal Trifolium repens
  (inflorescence)

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  Trifolium pratense subsp. pratense var. maritima which is only distributed around the Baltic Sea

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  seeds

External links

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