Clover Red(Trifolium pratense L.)

Alien

Family: Papilionaceae (puh-pil-ee-uh-NAY-see-ee) – From the Latin papilio (butterfly), after the shape of this family's flowers. It is in the pea & bean family. Alternative Pronunciation: puh-pil-ee-uh-NAY-see-ay

Genus: Trifolium (try-FOH-lee-um) – From the Latin tri for three and folium which means leaf, thus three-leaved.

Species: pratense (pra ten se) – Of the meadow.

Red Clover

The height is from 24 cm to 60 cm.

The fruit is a pod containing yellow or purple seeds.

• Red clover is grown for pasturage, hay and green manure. It is considered excellent forage for livestock and poultry.

• The solid extract is used in many food products including jams and jellies.

• Red clover has been written about in many histories as it is listed as a treatment for many aliments such as asthma, athlete's foot, bronchitis, burns, cancer, chest pain, coughing, constipation, diuretic, expectorant, gall-bladder, gout, headache, leprosy, liver problems, symptoms of menopause, pertussis, rheumatism and as a sedative, skin problems, sores, spasms, syphilis and ulcers. Consult a doctor if you are considering taking this herb for any of these ailments.

• Red clover is a perennial, sometimes biennial plant in the pea family. • It can grow from 1 to 5 cm high with erect stems. • The leaves at the base have long petioles while those on the stem

have moderately long-petioles to nearly sessile. The three leaflets are oval or elliptic and 1–3 cm long, 0.5–1.5 cm wide.

• The flowers are sessile, 10–15 mm long, rosy purple to creamy-white in colour. They grow on erect stems.

• The fruit pods are oblong-ovoid with yellowish to purplish seeds.• In Altona Forest, red clover grow in open fields, forest edges and near

the paths where the soils are moist.

Clover -- Red

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The leaves are green, 3 leaflets, each 2 to 5 cm long, usually with an inverted light green ‘V’ or chevron on the upper surface of each leaflet. The leaflets close up at night to protect their sensitive surfaces from the cold.

Clover -- Red

The flowers are reddish pink to purplish red, 12 to 20 mm long, in a globe-shaped clusters. The sweet odour as well as the sweet nectar attract bees and various butterflies.

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White Clover (Trifoliuim repens L.)

Family: Papilionaceae (puh-pil-ee-uh-NAY-see-ee) – From the Latin papilio (butterfly), after the shape of this family's flowers. It is in the pea & bean family. Alternative Pronunciation: puh-pil-ee-uh-NAY-see-ay

Genus: Trifolium (try-FOH-lee-um) – From the Latin tri for three and folium which means leaf, thus three-leaved.

Species: repens (REE-penz) – Means spreading, creeping.

Also called white Dutch clover and Dutch clover.

White Clover

White clover is in the pea family. (Leguminosae) White clover is a perennial or biennial creeping white-

flowered perennial with prostrate stems which roots at the nodes. It originated in Europe but has been very successful in spreading to most temperate and subtropical areas around the world. Its spread has been promoted by agricultural societies because of its usefulness as sweet forage for cattle, horses, sheep, or goats. It is very common in lawns, where one may sometimes find a "lucky 4-leaved" clover.

It has the rare habit of stopping growing and fading when warm weather starts but usually reappears with cooler weather.

In Altona Forest it is found near the roadsides and in almost every open field such as near the parking lot and in the regeneration area of the north and anywhere that grass and sedges grow..

Future location of photo.

White Clover

The leaves are green, three (sometimes four) leaflets of 1 to 3.5 cm in length. The leaflets are broad leaflets have tiny teeth on edges and a pale triangular mark appears on each leaflet.

Future location of photo.

White Clover

The hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) flowers are white to pale pinkish in globe-shaped clusters. The sweet odour as well as the sweet nectar attract bees and various butterflies. The flower has been described as looking like a pompom. The flowers are 6 - 13 mm long, on a long bare stem, separate from leaves.

It flowers from late May to autumn. Although the flowers can be pinkish, and red clover's flowers can be whitish, the flowers of the red clover always has leaves close below the flowerhead. The calyx is hairsless.

The fruit is a pea-like pod of 4 to 5 mm in length containing 3 to 6 dull yellow to orangish brown seeds. The pods are in clusters and brown with age. The seeds ripen from July to October.

Future location of photo.

• A beneficial bacteria, Rhizobium trifolii, lives in symbiosis with white clover. This bacteria takes in atmospheric nitrogen and fixes it to the soil.

• Reproduction is done by seeds and by the prostrate stolons that root at every node.

• There are some reports that chemicals in the plant, such as cyanogenic glycosides and cyanogenic phenotypes can release cyanide on contact with the enzyme linamarase.

• Some herbalists claim that the clover is wholesome and nutritious, however, eating clover is not recommended. The young leaves, which are cut before the flowers appear, are sometimes eaten raw in salads or cooked as a herb in soups, or as a substitute for spinach. The flowers have been used in salads or with seed pods were once dried, ground into powder and used as a flour or sprinkled on cooked foods such as boiled rice. The roots can be eaten when cooked. The dried leaves give a vanilla flavour to cakes and cookies. Dried flowering heads have been used as a tea substitute.

• An infusion of clover has been used in the treatment of coughs, colds and fevers as well as an eyewash. A tincture of the leaves can be applied as an ointment to gout.

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