Trifolium hybridum L.
alsike clover
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
alsike clover
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
© Alfred Cook (Photo ID #8500)
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a taproot; stems several, ascending to erect, 10-60 cm tall, rarely rooting at the nodes, slightly hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, palmately compound; leaflets 3, thin, elliptic to egg-shaped, 1-3 cm long, fine-toothed, glabrous except for short curly hairs on the stalks; stipules narrowly egg-shaped, veined, 5-25 mm long, the tips long-tapering.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a dense, globe-shaped, axillary head of pea-like, spreading to nodding flowers, the heads 1.5-2.5 cm wide, without involucres, on stalks to 15 cm long, mostly longer than the subtending leaves; corollas pink to reddish or white, 5-10 mm long; calyces 1/2 -1/3 as long as the corollas, sparsely hairy at the base of the green, awl-shaped teeth, the tube 10-veined, whitish.
Fruits:
Pods, oblong; seeds 1-3.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Trifolium hybridum
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
946 | 520 | 2270 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
7 | 0 | 60 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
194 | 0 | 356 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 2 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
126 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(3), CWH(2), ESSF(1), ICH(4), IDF(50), MS(13), SBS(25) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Mesic to dry roadsides, fields and waste places in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common in BC south of 54oN and to 57oN in NE BC, infrequent northward; introduced from Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Trifolium elegans Savi
Trifolium hybridum subsp. elegans (Savi) Asch. & Graebn.
Trifolium hybridum var. elegans (Savi) Boiss.
Trifolium hybridum var. pratense Rabenh.