Trifolium hybridum L.
alsike clover
Perennial; stems glabrous, erect or ascending, not rooting at nodes. Lvs glabrous; petioles c. 10-100 mm long; leaflets elliptic to obovate, usually obtuse, cuneate at base, finely serrate, c. 10-35 mm long; lateral veins thin and straight to leaflet margin; petiolules up to c. 1 mm long, ± equal; stipules ovate, acuminate. Infls axillary, racemose, globose, pedunculate, > lvs; fls numerous; pedicel up to 6 mm long; bracts subtending fls free. Calyx glabrous or sparsely hairy, 10-veined but 5 veins often indistinct, not inflated at fruiting; throat open, glabrous or sparsely hairy; calyx teeth somewhat unequal (2 upper slightly longer), < corolla, narrowly triangular, usually much > tube, sometimes only slightly >, erect at fruiting; sinuses obtuse. Corolla usually pink, persistent, 5-10 mm long. Pod glabrous, straight, ± = calyx, 3-4 mm long, 1-4-seeded; seeds c. 1-1.5 mm diam.
N.: Northland, Waikato, S. Hawke's Bay, Wellington Province; S.: scattered throughout but most common in E. coast areas; Ch.
S. Europe to Caucasia 1883
Waste places, gardens, pastures, riverbeds, often in wet situations.
FL Nov-Mar.
Alsike clover is cultivated in pasture and in general appearance resembles white clover (Plate 13) from which it is easily distinguished by the more erect habit and obtuse sinuses of the calyx teeth. N.Z. material can be referred to the type var.
