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White Clover

Trifolium repens L.

Comments

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Extensively cultivated as an important fodder plant.
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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 0: 288 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
editor
S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
project
eFloras.org
original
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Description

provided by eFloras
Glabrous to glabrescent perennial, prostrate, rooting at nodes. Leaflets 1-4 cm long, broadly obovate, rounded or retuse at the apex; petiole long; stipules broad at the base, sheathing, ending in a subulate apex. Inflorescence a globose raceme, 15-25 mm broad. Flowers scented. Calyx 2-6 mm, 10-nerved, teeth unequal. Corolla white or pinkish. Vexillum 8-13 mm long. Fruit linear, 3-4-seeded.
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 0: 288 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
editor
S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
project
eFloras.org
original
visit source
partner site
eFloras

Distribution

provided by eFloras
Widely naturalised in the temperate regions of the world; native of Europe, N. Africa, W. & C. Asia.
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal Vol. 0 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal @ eFloras.org
author
K.K. Shrestha, J.R. Press and D.A. Sutton
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eFloras.org
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eFloras

Distribution

provided by eFloras
Distribution: Pakistan; Kashmir; India; Russia, Central Asia, Siberia, Afghanistan; Caucasus; N.Africa; naturalized in N.America, Atlantic Islands; S. Africa; Australia and E.Asia.
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 0: 288 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
editor
S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
project
eFloras.org
original
visit source
partner site
eFloras

Elevation Range

provided by eFloras
1500-2500 m
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal Vol. 0 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal @ eFloras.org
author
K.K. Shrestha, J.R. Press and D.A. Sutton
project
eFloras.org
original
visit source
partner site
eFloras

Flower/Fruit

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Fl.Per.: April-July.
license
cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
copyright
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 0: 288 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
editor
S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
project
eFloras.org
original
visit source
partner site
eFloras

Comprehensive Description

provided by EOL staff

White Clover (Trifolium repens) is a familiar weedy herbaceous plant with sprawling stems that is native or naturalized across most of the temperate regions of the world. The white or pinkish flowers are produced in heads consisting of dozens of flowers. It is a perennial and an insect-pollinated, obligate outcrosser; plants also spread vegetatively by stolons (Olsen et al. 2008). Like other plants in the Fabaceae (legume family), White Clover harbors microbes in its root system that are capable of fixing nitrogen, i.e., converting atmospheric nitrogen into a form that is usable by plants. White Clover is one of the three-leafleted clover species that occasionally produces a leaf with four (or more) leaflets, i.e., a "four-leafed clover". The genetics underlying this phenomenon has been at least partly worked out (see Tashiro et al. 2010). Images of four-leafed clovers can be seen above and examples of multifoliolated clover leaves can be seen here, along with this intriguing quotation from Masters (1869): "[Trifolium repens] was gathered at night-time during the full moon by sorceresses, who mixed it with vervain and other ingredients, while young girls in search of a token of perfect happiness made quest of the plant by day."

White Clover exhibits a geographic polymorphism for cyanogenesis (the release of cyanide following tissue damage, a phenomenon seen in a very large and diverse number of plant species). Both cyanogenic and acyanogenic plants occur in natural populations, with acyanogenic plants predominating in colder climates for reasons that are not yet clear (Olsen and Ungerer 2008; Olsen et al. 2008 and references therein). This polymorphism has been studied since early in the 20th century, and represents one of the most thoroughly studied examples of an adaptive polymorphism in plants. Cyanogenic plants are generally found to be strongly favored in the presence of generalist herbivores, which avoid eating them. However, a number of costs appear to be associated with cyanogenesis, such as reduced drought tolerance, resulting in trade-offs that may favor cyanogenetic or acyanogenetic plants depending on local conditions. (Olsen et al. 2008 and references therein)

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Shapiro, Leo
author
Shapiro, Leo
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EOL staff