Trifolium repens L.
white clover
Perennial; stems glabrous, creeping, rooting at nodes. Lvs ± glabrous; petioles up to 140-(200) mm long; leaflets obovate to elliptic or suborbicular, obtuse to obcordate, cuneate at base, finely serrate, often with light or dark markings, c. 5-25 mm long; lateral veins thin or somewhat thickened and ± straight to leaflet margin; petiolules up to c. 1 mm long, ± equal; stipules oblong, acuminate. Infls axillary, racemose, globose, pedunculate, > lvs; fls numerous; pedicel up to 5 mm long; bracts subtending fls free. Calyx ± glabrous, 10-veined, not inflated at fruiting; throat open, glabrous; calyx teeth somewhat unequal (2 upper longer), < corolla, triangular to narrowly triangular, < tube, erect at fruiting; sinuses acute. Corolla usually white, occasionally pink to reddish, persistent, 8-12 mm long. Pod glabrous, straight, > calyx, 4-5 mm long, 2-5-seeded; seeds c. 1 mm diam.
N.; S.: abundant throughout; St.: locally common in open disturbed areas, and S.W. Muttonbird Is; K., Ch., A., C.
Europe, N. and W. Asia, N. Africa 1864
A wide range of habitats including waste places, pasture, riverbeds, cultivated land, lawns and gardens.
FL Jul-Mar.
White clover is widely cultivated as a pasture plant, but its stoloniferous habit also makes it a troublesome weed in many situations. Many cvs are grown and wild plants also vary in leaflet shape and markings, and in fl. colour, but most plants can be referred to the type var. T. repens is distinguished from T. fragiferum by the thin straight veins of the leaflets, and the ± glabrous calyx which does not become inflated at fruiting (Plate 13). It is distinguished from T. hybridum by the stoloniferous habit and the acute sinuses of the calyx teeth.
