Trifolium pratense L.
red clover
Perennial; stems sparsely hairy below, moderately or densely hairy in upper parts, erect or decumbent, not rooting at nodes. Lvs usually moderately hairy on petioles and undersurface of leaflets, ± glabrous or sparsely hairy on uppersurface; petioles up to c. 200 mm long; leaflets ovate, elliptic or obovate, usually obtuse, sometimes acute or slightly emarginate, rarely shortly mucronate, cuneate to obtuse at base, usually ± entire, usually with a crescentic spot toward base, c. 15-40 mm long; lateral veins thin and ± straight or somewhat recurved and thickened toward leaflet margin; petiolules 1-2 mm long, ± equal; stipules ovate-oblong, acuminate. Infls terminal, spicate, globose to ovoid, usually sessile, ± = or > subtending lvs; fls numerous, sessile; bracts 0, but an involucre present at base of infl. only and stipules of subtending lvs partly enfolding young infl. Calyx moderately hairy, 10-veined, not inflated at fruiting; throat open, with a ring of hairs; calyx teeth unequal, much < corolla, triangular with linear apex, spreading at fruiting; upper teeth ± = tube; lowest tooth up to 1.5-2× as long as other 4, much > tube; sinuses narrowly obtuse. Corolla pink, purple-pink or rarely cream, persistent, 10-16 mm long. Pod glabrous, straight, < calyx, thickened at apex, 2-3 mm long, 1-seeded; seeds c. 2 mm diam., with a blunt projection on one side.
N.; S.: common to abundant throughout; St.: Halfmoon Bay, S.W. Muttonbird Is; K., Ch., C.
Europe to W. Asia, N. Africa 1867
Pasture, waste places, gardens, cultivated land.
FL Oct-Mar.
Red clover is widely cultivated and there are several described vars and many cvs. There is some variability within N.Z. naturalised material in hairiness, leaflet shape, fl. colour, and calyx teeth length. Red clover is distinguished from T. medium by the broader leaflets, sessile heads (Plate 13), and the calyx teeth which are triangular with a linear apex rather than ± linear. White-flowered forms may be confused with T. ochroleucon, but the leaflets of red clover are broader and usually ± glabrous above, and the lowermost calyx tooth is only 1.5-2× as long as the other 4.
