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"Alsike" and "Trifolium" redirect here. For the Swedish locality, see Alsike, Sweden. For the Canadian locality, see Alsike, Alberta. For the trematode parasite, see Cladocystis trifolium.
For other uses, see Clover (disambiguation).
Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus Trifolium (Latin, tres "three" + folium "leaf"), consisting of about 300 species of plants in the leguminous pea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics. They are small annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial herbaceous plants. Clover can be evergreen. The leaves are trifoliate (rarely quatrefoiled, cinquefoil, or septfoil), with stipules adnate to the leaf-stalk, and heads or dense spikes of small red, purple, white, or yellow flowers; the small, few-seeded pods are enclosed in the calyx. Other closely related genera often called clovers include Melilotus (sweet clover) and Medicago (alfalfa or Calvary clover).
Several species of clover are extensively cultivated as fodder plants. The most widely cultivated clovers are white clover Trifolium repens and red clover Trifolium pratense. Clover, either sown alone or in mixture with ryegrass, has for a long time formed a staple crop for silaging, for several reasons: it grows freely, shooting up again after repeated mowings; it produces an abundant crop; it is palatable to and nutritious for livestock; it fixes nitrogen, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers; it grows in a great range of soils and climates; and it is appropriate for either pasturage or green composting.
In many areas, particularly on acidic soil, clover is short-lived because of a combination of insect pests, diseases and nutrient balance; this is known as "clover sickness". When crop rotations are managed so that clover does not recur at intervals shorter than eight years, it grows with much of its pristine vigor.
Clover sickness in more recent times may also be linked to pollinator decline; clovers are most efficiently pollinated by bumblebees, which have declined as a result of agricultural intensification.[3] Honeybees can also pollinate clover, and beekeepers are often in heavy demand from farmers with clover pastures. Farmers reap the benefits of increased reseeding that occurs with increased bee activity, which means that future clover yields remain abundant. Beekeepers benefit from the clover bloom, as clover is one of the main nectar sources for honeybees.
Colorful flowers of clovers, beside Zarivar Lake Iran
Trifolium repens, white or Dutch clover, is a perennial abundant in meadows and good pastures. The flowers are white or pinkish, becoming brown and deflexed as the corolla fades. Trifolium hybridum, alsike or Swedish clover, is a perennial which was introduced early in the 19th century and has now become naturalized in Britain. The flowers are white or rosy, and resemble those of the last species. Trifolium medium, meadow or zigzag clover, a perennial with straggling flexuous stems and rose-purple flowers, has potential for interbreeding with T. pratense to produce perennial crop plants.[4]
Other species are: Trifolium arvense, hare's-foot trefoil; found in fields and dry pastures, a soft hairy plant with minute white or pale pink flowers and feathery sepals; Trifolium fragiferum, strawberry clover, with globose, rose-purple heads and swollen calyxes; Trifolium campestre, hop trefoil, on dry pastures and roadsides, the heads of pale yellow flowers suggesting miniature hops; and the somewhat similar Trifolium dubium, common in pastures and roadsides, with smaller heads and small yellow flowers turning dark brown.
Shamrock, the traditional Irish symbol, which according to legend was coined by Saint Patrick for the Holy Trinity, is commonly associated with clover, although alternatively sometimes with the various species within the Oxalis genus, which are also trifoliate.[5]
Clovers occasionally have four leaflets, instead of the usual three. These four-leaf clovers, like other rarities, are considered lucky. Clovers can also have five, six, or more leaflets, but these are rarer. The record for most leaflets is 56, set on 10 May 2009.[6] This beat the "21-leaf clover",[7] a record set in June 2008 by the same discoverer, who had also held the prior Guinness World Record of 18.[8]
A common idiom is "to be (or to live) in clover", meaning to live a carefree life of ease, comfort, or prosperity.
The cloverleaf interchange is named for the resemblance to the leaflets of a (four-leaf) clover when viewed from the air.[citation needed]
Four-leaf white clover (Trifolium repens)
Five-leaf red clover (Trifolium pratense)
The genus Trifolium currently has 245 recognized species:[1]
Trifolium aintabense Boiss. & Hausskn.
Trifolium albopurpureum Torr. & A. Gray – rancheria clover
Trifolium alexandrinum L. – Egyptian clover, berseem clover
Trifolium alpinum L. – alpine clover
Trifolium amoenum Greene – showy Indian clover
Trifolium andersonii A. Gray – Anderson's clover or fiveleaf clover
Trifolium andinum Nutt. – Intermountain clover
Trifolium angulatum Waldst. & Kit.
Trifolium argutum Banks & Sol.
Trifolium arvense L. – hare's-foot clover
Trifolium aureum Pollich – large hop trefoil
Trifolium barbeyi Gibelli & Belli
Trifolium barbigerum Torr. – bearded clover
Trifolium barnebyi (Isely) Dorn & Lichvar
Trifolium beckwithii W. H. Brewer ex S. Watson – Beckwith's clover
Trifolium berytheum Boiss. & Blanche
Trifolium bifidum A. Gray – notchleaf clover
Trifolium boissieri Guss. ex Soy.-Will. & Godr.
Trifolium bolanderi A. Gray
Trifolium brandegeei S. Watson
Trifolium breweri S. Watson – forest clover
Trifolium buckwestiorum Isely – Santa Cruz clover
Trifolium bullatum Boiss. & Hausskn.
Trifolium calcaricum J. L. Collins & Wieboldt
Trifolium campestre Schreb. – hop trefoil
Trifolium cheranganiense J. B. Gillett
Trifolium chilense Hook. & Arn.
Trifolium chlorotrichum Boiss. & Balansa
Trifolium ciliolatum Benth. – foothill clover
Trifolium clusii Godr. & Gren.
Trifolium cryptopodium Steud. ex A. Rich.
Trifolium cyathiferum Lindl. – cup clover
Trifolium dasyphyllum Torr. & A. Gray
Trifolium dasyurum C. Presl
Trifolium davisii M. Hossain
Trifolium depauperatum Desv. – cowbag clover, balloon sack clover, or poverty clover
Trifolium dichotomum Hook. & Arn.
Trifolium dichroanthoides Rech. f.
Trifolium dolopium Heldr. & Hausskn. ex Gibelli & Belli
Trifolium dubium Sibth. – lesser hop trefoil
Trifolium echinatum M. Bieb.
Trifolium elgonense J. B. Gillett
Trifolium eriocephalum Nutt. – woollyhead clover
Trifolium eximium Stephan ex Ser.
Trifolium fragiferum L. – strawberry clover
Trifolium friscanum (S.L. Welsh) S.L. Welsh
Trifolium fucatum Lindl. – bull clover or sour clover
Trifolium gemellum Pourr. ex Willd.
Trifolium glomeratum L. – clustered clover or bush clover
Trifolium gordejevii (Kom.) Z. Wei
Trifolium gracilentum Torr. & A. Gray – pinpoint clover
Trifolium gymnocarpon Nutt. – hollyleaf clover
Trifolium heldreichianum (Gibelli & Belli) Hausskn.
Trifolium hirtum All. – rose clover
Trifolium howellii S. Watson – canyon clover or Howell's clover
Trifolium hybridum L. – Alsike clover
Trifolium incarnatum L. – crimson clover
Trifolium israeliticum Zohary & Katzn.
Trifolium jokerstii Vincent & Rand. Morgan
Trifolium kingii S. Watson
Trifolium lanceolatum (J. B. Gillett) J. B. Gillett
Trifolium latifolium (Hook.) Greene
Trifolium leibergii A. Nelson & J. F. Macbr. – Leiberg's clover
Trifolium lemmonii S. Watson – Lemmon's clover
Trifolium leucanthum M. Bieb.
Trifolium ligusticum Balb. ex Loisel.
Trifolium longipes Nutt. – longstalk clover
Trifolium lucanicum Gasp. ex Guss.
Trifolium macraei Hook. & Arn. – Chilean clover, double-head clover, or MacRae's clover
Trifolium macrocephalum (Pursh) Poir. – largehead clover
Trifolium masaiense J. B. Gillett
Trifolium mazanderanicum Rech. f.
Trifolium medium L. – zigzag clover
Trifolium meduseum Blanche ex Boiss.
Trifolium meironense Zohary & Lerner
Trifolium microcephalum Pursh – smallhead clover
Trifolium microdon Hook. & Arn. – thimble clover
Trifolium monanthum A. Gray – mountain carpet clover
Trifolium mucronatum Willd. ex Spreng.
Trifolium multinerve A. Rich.
Trifolium obtusiflorum Hook. & Arn. – clammy clover
Trifolium oliganthum Steud. – fewflower clover
Trifolium pallidum Waldst. & Kit.
Trifolium pannonicum Jacq. – Hungarian clover
Trifolium parnassi Boiss. & Spruner
Trifolium parryi A. Gray
Trifolium petitianum A. Rich.
Trifolium phitosianum N. Böhling et al.
Trifolium phleoides Pourr. ex Willd.
Trifolium physanthum Hook. & Arn.
Trifolium physodes Steven ex M. Bieb.
Trifolium pichisermollii J. B. Gillett
Trifolium pignantii Brongn. & Bory
Trifolium polyphyllum C. A. Mey.
Trifolium praetermissum Greuter et al.
Trifolium pratense L. – red clover[9]
Trifolium prophetarum M. Hossain
Trifolium pseudostriatum Baker f.
Trifolium purseglovei J. B. Gillett
Trifolium quartinianum A. Rich.
Trifolium radicosum Boiss. & Hohen.
Trifolium reflexum L. – buffalo clover
Trifolium repens L. – shamrock (white clover)
Trifolium resupinatum L. – Persian clover, shaftal
Trifolium schimperi A. Rich.
Trifolium siskiyouense J. M. Gillett
Trifolium squamosum (or maritimum) L. – sea clover
Trifolium stoloniferum Muhl. ex A. Eaton – running buffalo clover
Trifolium striatum L. – knotted clover
Trifolium subterraneum L. – subterranean clover
Trifolium sylvaticum Gérard ex Loisel.
Trifolium thompsonii C. V. Morton – Thompson's clover
Trifolium triaristatum Bertero ex Colla
Trifolium trichocalyx A. Heller – Monterey clover
Trifolium trichocephalum M. Bieb.
Trifolium tumens Steven ex M. Bieb.
Trifolium variegatum Nutt. – whitetip clover
Trifolium vestitum D. Heller & Zohary
Trifolium wettsteinii Dörfl. & Hayek
Trifolium wigginsii J. M. Gillett
Trifolium willdenovii Spreng. − tomcat clover
Trifolium wormskioldii Lehm. – cow clover
^ a b "Species Nomenclature in GRIN". Retrieved 2010-08-04.
^ a b c d e f "Genus Nomenclature in GRIN". Retrieved 2010-07-09.
^ Bumbles make beeline for gardens, study suggests Retrieved 27 November 2010.
^ Isobe, S.; Sawai, A.; Yamaguchi, H.; Gau, M.; Uchiyama, K. (2002). "Breeding potential of the backcross progenies of a hybrid between Trifolium medium × T. pratense to T. pratense". Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 82 (2): 395–399. doi:10.4141/P01-034.
^ "Shamrock (Oxalis)". Fine Gardening. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
^ "Most Leaves on a Clover". Guinness World Records. 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
^ Clover Sets Record. Neatorama. Retrieved on 2008-12-07 from http://www.neatorama.com/2008/06/11/21-leaf-clover-sets-record 21-leaf. Archived July 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
^ "Most leaves on a clover". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
^ "Detox and Cleansing". Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Clover". Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 561.
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Edibility of clover: Edible parts and visual identification of wild clover.
Last edited on 9 March 2017, at 12:49
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