WHITE CLOVER
File Size: 72 KB
 
Trifolium repens  L.
Riley County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 2-8+ inches
Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family
Flowering Period:   May, June, July, August, September
Also Called: Ladino clover, dutch clover.
Stems: Prostrate, creeping, rooting at nodes, glabrous to slightly pubescent; often forms mats.
Leaves: Alternate, palmately 3-foliolate on stalks 2 to 8 inches long; leaflets broadly elliptic to egg-shaped or nearly heart-shaped, .4 to 1.5 long, .2 to .8 inch wide; surfaces mostly glabrous, often with pale V-shaped spot on upper surface; margins finely toothed; tip rounded to notched; stipules thin, pale, 1/8 to 2/5 inch long, at base of leaf stalk.
Inflorescences: Head, nearly spherical, .4 to 1.2 inch in diameter, 40-90 flowered, terminal on stalks 2 to 8 inches long.
Flowers: Individual flowers on short stalks; calyx 5-toothed, 10-nerved, glabrous; teeth narrowly triangular, unequal; corolla papilionaceous, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, white or pinkish, turning brown; banner longer than wings and keel; stamens 10, 9 united, 1 free.
Fruits: Pod, oblong-linear, 1/6 to 1/5 inch long, 2-4 seeded; seeds small, heart-shaped, yellowish.
Habitat: Lawns, waste places, fields, pastures, disturbed areas, stream valleys, roadsides; clay or silt soils.
Distribution: Throughout Kansas
Origin: Introduced. Native in Europe and Asia, naturalized in North America.
Reproduction: Seeds and stolons
Toxicity: White clover can cause bloat in livestock but death is extremely rare.
Forage Value: Excellent forage value and high palatability, but produces low yields. Upland game birds, wild turkeys, and small mammals consume the leaves and grouse eat the seeds.
Uses: Native Americans steeped the dried leaves and took the tea to treat colds and coughs and steeped the flowers and used the liquid as an eyewash.
Comments: White clover adds nitrogen to the soil. It is often used as a nectar source in the production of honey.
 See red clover

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