Trifolium pratense
Red clover
How do you recognise red clover?
A herb 15–60 cm tall with a three-part leaf. The leaflets are 1–5 cm long, obovate or oval, and often marked with a pale patch. The flower head is a round cluster 2–4 cm across of red two-lipped flowers, paler towards the base.
What is it confused with?
White clover has a white head and is a lower, trailing plant. Wood sorrel has heart-shaped leaflets and carries a single white flower.
Where does red clover grow, and when does it flower?
Grows in open places such as meadows, roadsides, waste ground, dry grassland, and pasture. Flowering runs from June to August.
Can you collect it for a herbarium?
Red clover is very common in meadows and roadsides and may be collected freely.
Did you know?
Clovers fix nitrogen from the air through bacteria in their root nodules, so they fertilise the ground they grow in. The pale mark on the leaflet is characteristic and shows from a distance.
Where does red clover grow in Finland?
The map shows where the species has been recorded. Darker squares mean more observations.
Loading the map
Observations: GBIF · Map: CARTO, OpenStreetMap
Sources: fi.wikipedia.org
Identify plants with your phone
Linnea identifies a plant from a photo and tells you its name and its story. Every find takes its own numbered place in your herbarium, with the day and the town where you found it.
