White Clover, Dutch Clover, Purple Dutch Clover, Shamrock, White Clover
Trifolium repens

Family: Fabaceae or Leguminosae

What it is like

Bloom Color: White. Main Bloom Time: Mid summer, Mid fall, Mid spring. Form: Prostrate.

Trifolium repens is an evergreen Perennial growing to 0.1 m (0ft 4in) by 1 m (3ft 3in) at a medium rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 4 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower from June to September, and the seeds ripen from July to October. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Bees. It can fix Nitrogen. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in heavy clay and nutritionally poor soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 0.1

Where it is found

Grassland and lawns, preferring a calcareous clay soil.

Europe, including Britain, from Norwat south and east to N. Africa, north and western Asia.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

How it is used

Food

Rating: 3

Leaves - raw or cooked as a potherb. The young leaves are harvested before the plant comes into flower and are used in salads, soups etc. They can also be used as a vegetable, cooked like spinach. The leaves are best cooked. Flowers and seed pods are dried, ground into powder and used as a flour or sprinkled on cooked foods such as boiled rice. Very wholesome and nutritious. The young flowers can also be used in salads. Root - cooked. The dried leaves impart a vanilla flavour to cakes etc. Dried flowering heads are a tea substitute.

Root: includes bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes etc.

Condiment: the various plants that are used as flavourings, either as herbs, spices or condiments.

Tea: the various herb teas that can be used in place of tea, plus the genuine article.

Medicine

Rating: 2

The plant is antirheumatic, antiscrophulatic, depurative, detergent and tonic. An infusion has been used in the treatment of coughs, colds, fevers and leucorrhoea. A tincture of the leaves is applied as an ointment to gout. An infusion of the flowers has been used as an eyewash.

Antirheumatic: Treats rheumatism.

Antiscrophulatic: Counteracts scrofula. (TB, especially of the lymph glands)

Depurative: Eliminates toxins and purifies the system, especially the blood.

Detergent: A cleansing agent, used on wounds etc. It removes dead and diseased matter.

Ophthalmic: Treats eye complaints.

Tonic: Improves general health. Slower acting than a stimulant, it brings steady improvement.

Other

Rating: 4

The plant makes a good green manure, it is useful for over-wintering, especially in a mixture with Lolium perenne. Produces a good bulk. It is a host to 'clover rot' however, so should not be used too frequently. It can be undersown with cereals or with tomatoes in a greenhouse (sow the seed before planting the tomatoes). Fairly deep rooting but not very fast growing. A good fast ground-cover plant for a sunny position. Nectary. A dynamic accumulator gathering minerals or nutrients from the soil and storing them in a more bioavailable form - used as fertilizer or to improve mulch.

Fodder: Food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them) rather than forage for themselves.

Green manure: Fast-growing plants that can be used to increase the fertility of the soil.

Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen: Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae.

Agroforestry Services: Understory legume: Legume vegetation, especially the trees and shrubs growing between the forest canopy and the forest floor.

Fodder: Pasture: Enclosed tracts of farmland mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass herbaceous plants).

Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world. The annual value of each is more than $1 billion US Examples include coconuts, almonds, and bananas.

Management: Fodder: Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Management: Hay: Cut to the ground and harvested annually. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Staple Crop: Protein: (16+ percent protein, 0-15 percent oil). Annuals include beans, chickpeas, lentils, cowpeas, and pigeon peas. Perennials include perennial beans, nuts, leaf protein concentrates, and edible milks.

Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen: Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae.

Agroforestry Services: Understory legume: Legume vegetation, especially the trees and shrubs growing between the forest canopy and the forest floor.

Fodder: Pasture: Enclosed tracts of farmland mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass herbaceous plants).

Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world. The annual value of each is more than $1 billion US Examples include coconuts, almonds, and bananas.

Management: Fodder: Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Management: Hay: Cut to the ground and harvested annually. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

Dynamic accumulator: Plants that gather minerals or nutrients from the soil and store them in a more bioavailable form and in high concentration in their tissues. Used as fertilizer or to improve mulch.

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

Ground cover: Ground Cover

Nitrogen Fixer: Plants that fix nitrogen in the soil

How it is grown

Landscape Uses: Ground cover. Succeeds in a moist, well-drained circum-neutral soil in full sun, preferring a sweet calcareous clay soil. Succeeds in poor soils. A very important food plant for the caterpillars of many butterfly and moth species it is also a good bee plant. A good companion plant in the lawn, tolerating trampling, but it dislikes growing with henbane or members of the buttercup family. It grows well in an apple orchard, the trees will produce tastier fruit that stores better. It should not be grown with camellias or gooseberries because it harbours a mite that can cause fruit drop in the gooseberries and premature budding in the camellias. Polymorphic, there are many subspecies and varieties. Some varieties have also been selected for use in lawn mixes. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby. Buttercups growing nearby depress the growth of the nitrogen bacteria by means of a root exudate. Special Features:Not North American native, Invasive. The plant is heat tolerant in zones 8 through 1. (Plant Hardiness Zones show how well plants withstand cold winter temperatures. Plant Heat Zones show when plants would start suffering from the heat. The Plant Heat Zone map is based on the number of "heat days" experienced in a given area where the temperature climbs to over 86 degrees F (30°C). At this temperature, many plants begin to suffer physiological damage. Heat Zones range from 1 (no heat days) to 12 (210 or more heat days). For example Heat Zone. 11-1 indicates that the plant is heat tolerant in zones 11 through 1.) For polyculture design as well as the above-ground architecture (form - tree, shrub etc. and size shown above) information on the habit and root pattern is also useful and given here if available. The plant growth habit is a clumper with limited spread. The root pattern is stoloniferous rooting from creeping stems above the ground.

Propagating it: Pre-soak the seed for 12 hours in warm water and then sow in spring in situ. If the seed is in short supply it might be better to sow it in pots in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in late spring. Division in spring.

Best place to grow: Ground Cover; Lawn;

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness: 4-8

Growth: Medium

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

This plant has been known to cause problems for grazing animals, though this has never happened in Britain. The problem may be associated with the climate in which the plant is growing. The species is polymorphic for cyanogenic glycosides. The leaves and flowers of certain cyanogenic phenotypes contain a glycoside which releases cyanide on contact with the enzyme linamarase.

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Trifolium repens L. var. atropurpureum

White Clover, Dutch Clover, Purple Dutch Clover, Shamrock, White Clover Trifolium repens