Trifolium pratense L.
red clover
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
red clover
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial or biennial herb from a taproot; stems several, ascending to erect, soft-hairy, 20-70 cm tall.
Leaves:
Alternate, palmately compound; leaflets 3 (rarely 4), lance-elliptic to egg-shaped, 2-6 cm long, obscurely toothed, often with a white, crescent-shaped spot towards the base, soft-hairy; stipules narrowly egg-shaped, 1-3 cm long, green-veined, narrowed to a bristle-tip.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a dense, globe-shaped, terminal head of 50 to 200, ascending to spreading, pea-like flowers, the heads 2.5-3.5 cm wide, more or less unstalked, lacking involucres; corollas pink-purple to deep red, 11-20 mm long; calyces 1/2-2/3 as long as the corollas, the tube narrowly bell-shaped, short-hairy on the outside and stiff-hairy in the throat, 10-veined, the teeth needle-like, bristly, the lower 3 about twice as long as the upper 2.
Fruits:
Pods, egg-shaped, about 2 mm long; seeds 2.
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:
Red
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Trifolium pratense
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) |
871 | 2 | 2016 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
9 | 0 | 65 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
190 | 0 | 352 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
174 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(6), BWBS(7), CDF(4), CWH(6), ESSF(3), ICH(30), IDF(68), MS(9), PP(5), SBPS(6), SBS(25) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Mesic to dry roadsides, fields, meadows and waste places in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common in BC S of 55o N, rare northward; introduced from Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Trifolium pratense var. frigidum auct. non Gaudin
Trifolium pratense var. sativum (Mill.) Schreb.