Trifolium repens

Native to Northern Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Introduced and naturalized in North America.

Disturbed sites, roadsides, lawns

June to August

White or white tinted with pink, gradually turning brown

4″ to 10″

This is a 4″ to 10″ tall, creeping, perennial forb that rises from a shallow, branching taproot and from rootlets formed by the creeping stem. It often forms colonies.

The stems are light green, hairless and up to 1′ long. They creep along the ground and can root at the nodes. They send up leaves and flower heads on separate long stalks.

The leaves are alternate and compound, divided into 3 leaflets. They are on hairless leaf stalks. The leaflets are elliptical, hairless, ⅜″ to ¾″ long and wide, and may have a shallow notch at the tip. They usually have a pale, crescent-shaped marking on the upper surface, though this may fade or be absent. The margins are finely-toothed.

Flowers are borne in globular, head-like clusters at the end of long, unbranched, leafless, hairless stalks. The flowering stalks are usually taller than the leaves. The flower heads are ¼″ to ¾″ across. Each head has 20 to 50 flowers.

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. Each individual flower is borne on a short stalk. The petals are white and may be tinted with pink. They gradually turn brown as they age.

The fruit is a seed pod containing 3 or 4 seeds.

Alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum) is a much larger plant, 1′ to 2½′ tall. The stems are ascending, not creeping, and they do not root at the nodes. Flowers and leaves are borne on the same branched stem. The leaflets have no markings on the upper surface and are not indented or pointed at the tip. The petals are more pink.

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

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is a much larger plant, 1′ to 2½′ tall. The stems are hairy and do not root at the nodes. Flowers and leaves are borne on the same branched stem. The leaflets have a pale v-shaped marking on the upper surface and are not indented or pointed at the tip. The petals are pink or magenta. The individual flowers are stalkless.