Trifolium pratense

Native to Northern Africa, Europe, and Western Asia. Introduced and naturalized. Invasive.

Disturbed sites

May to September

Magenta to pink to nearly white, but never red

1′ to 2½′

This is a perennial forb that rises on multiple stems from a taproot with rhizomes.

The stems are light green, hairy, and branching. They can be nearly erect, ascending, or reclining on the ground with just the tip ascending.

The leaves are alternate and compound, divided into 3 leaflets. The lower leaves are on long, hairy leaf stalks. The upper leaves are on short stalks or on no stalks at all. The leaflets are lance-shaped or egg-shaped, hairless, ⅜″ to 1⅛″ long, and ¼″ to ⅔″ wide. The margins are finely-toothed or untoothed. The upper leaf surface is silky-hairy and has a pale V-shaped marking.

The inflorescence is several dense, globular, head-like clusters at the end of the stems. The flower heads are ½″ to 1⅛″ tall and about 1″ across. Each head has up to 25 to 80 flowers. There are usually 1 to 3 stalkless leaflets immediately below the flower head.

The flowers are pea-like, with 5 petals organized into a banner, 2 wings, and a keel formed by two petals fused together at the tip. The banner is longer than the wings and the keel. The individual flowers are stalkless. The petals are magenta to pink to nearly white, but never red. They gradually turn darker pink to rose as they age.

The fruit is a seed pod containing 1 or 2 seeds.

Alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum) stems are hairless or nearly hairless. The leaflets have no markings on the upper surface and are not indented or pointed at the tip. The petals are pale pink to pinkish-white.

Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) stems are more hairy. The leaflets have no markings on the upper surface. The petals are crimson red.

White clover (Trifolium repens) is a much smaller plant, 4″ to 10″ tall. The stems are creeping and they root at the nodes. Flowers and leaves are borne on separate stalks. The leaflets have have a pale, crescent-shaped, not V-shaped, marking on the upper surface. The petals are white or white tinted with pink.

This is the state flower of Vermont.