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Trifolium pratense L.

Chilean Clover

Red clover is a familiar native perennial of the pea family, forming clumps of upright stems topped with rounded, deep pink to purple flower heads. Its leaves are the classic clover trefoil, each leaflet usually marked with a paler crescent.

Trifolium pratense (Chilean Clover)
Photo: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

About

Red clover is a familiar native perennial of the pea family, forming clumps of upright stems topped with rounded, deep pink to purple flower heads. Its leaves are the classic clover trefoil, each leaflet usually marked with a paler crescent. Though often short-lived, it is vigorous and free-flowering, and like all clovers it fixes nitrogen, enriching the soil around it.

It grows widely in meadows, pastures, road verges, woodland edges and rough grassland on a range of neutral to moderately fertile soils in sun or light shade. Flowering from late spring right through the summer, it is one of the most important plants for bumblebees, whose long tongues can reach the nectar held deep in the tubular flowers, and it supports many other insects too. Long grown as fodder and green manure, it is a cornerstone of meadow, pollinator and agricultural seed mixes.

Also known as

Cowgrass Clover · Mammoth Red Clover · Medium Red Clover · Peavine Clover · Purple Clover · Red Clover · meadow clover

Synonyms

Lagopus pratensis · Trifolium boeticum · Trifolium brachystylum · Trifolium bracteatum · Trifolium heterophyllum · Trifolium pensylvanicum · Trifolium pratense boeticum · Trifolium pratense expansum · Trifolium pratense lenkoranicum · Trifolium pratense pratense · Trifolium pratense sativum · Trifolium pratense spontaneum

In our seed mixes

Beta — under active development. This catalogue is still being built and accuracy-checked. The information here (including plant identifications, British native status, soil and sun/shade preferences) is provided in good faith for general guidance only and may contain errors or omissions. It must not be relied upon on its own — please confirm details with us before making planting, specification, foraging or purchasing decisions, and never eat or medicinally use any plant based on this catalogue alone, as some species are toxic. To the extent permitted by law, Phoenix Amenity Supplies accepts no liability for any loss arising from use of this information.