Trifolium repens

File:79 Trifolium repens L.jpg

File:2020 year. Herbarium. Clover. img-001.jpg

File:Starr 070313-5645 Trifolium repens.jpg

File:4-leaf clover.JPG

File:Trifolium repens White Clover, Dutch Clover at Thimphu during LGFC - Bhutan 2019 (1).jpg

The genus name, Trifolium, derives from the Latin {{lang|la|tres}}, "three", and {{lang|la|folium}}, "leaf", so called from the characteristic form of the leaf, which almost always has three leaflets (trifoliolate); hence the popular name "trefoil". The species name, {{lang|la|repens}}, is Latin for "creeping".

It is a herbaceous, perennial plant. It is low growing, with flowering heads of whitish florets, often with a tinge of pink or cream that may come on with the aging of the plant. The heads are generally {{convert|1.5|-|2|cm|frac=4}} wide, and are at the end of {{convert|7|cm|in|frac=4}} peduncles or inflorescence stalks.Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal and Joseph M. Ditomaso, Weeds of The Northeast, (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997), Pp. 236–237. The flowers are mostly visited by bumblebees{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1111/plb.12328| pmid = 25754608| title = Competition for pollinators and intra-communal spectral dissimilarity of flowers| journal = Plant Biology| volume = 18| issue = 1| pages = 56–62| year = 2015| last1 = Van Der Kooi | first1 = C. J.| last2 = Pen | first2 = I.| last3 = Staal | first3 = M.| last4 = Stavenga | first4 = D. G.| last5 = Elzenga | first5 = J. T. M.| bibcode = 2016PlBio..18...56V| url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273158762}} and often by honey bees. The leaves are trifoliolate, smooth, elliptic to egg-shaped and long-petioled and usually with light or dark markings. The stems function as stolons, so white clover often forms mats, with the stems creeping as much as {{convert|18|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} a year, and rooting at the nodes. The leaves form the symbol known as shamrock. Almost always, a white clover will be trifoliolate. However, one can, but only sometimes, possess four or more leaflets.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

• Trifolium repens subsp. macrorrhizum (Boiss.) Ponert
• Trifolium repens var. nevadense (Boiss.) C.Vicioso
• Trifolium repens var. ochranthum K.Maly
• Trifolium repens var. orbelicum (Velen.) Fritsch
• Trifolium repens var. orphanideum (Boiss.) Boiss.
• Trifolium repens var. pipolina
• Trifolium repens subsp. prostratum Nyman{{cite web|title=Trifolium repens L. — The Plant List|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/ild-8135|work=theplantlist.org}}

It is native in Europe and Central Asia, ubiquitous throughout the British Isles,{{cite web |title=BSBI Online Atlas of the British Flora |url=https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/trifolium-repens |access-date=16 June 2018 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414051758/https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/plant/trifolium-repens |url-status=dead }} introduced in North America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and elsewhere, and globally cultivated as a forage crop.

White clover has been used as a model organism for global research into ecology and urban evolution. As part of the Global Urban Evolution Project (GLUE) scientists from 26 countries examined the production of cyanide by over 110,000 clover plants from 160 cities. Cyanide can be useful to clover plants as a deterrent to herbivores.

Analyzing urban-rural differences, scientists found that cyanide production tended to increase with distance from the center of cities, suggesting that clover populations were adapting to factors commonly found in urban centers worldwide. Possible factors could include temperature (freezing is related to cyanide content), herbivory pressures, and drought stress. As clover habitats, the downtowns of cities may more closely resemble other far-flung cities than nearby rural areas.{{cite journal |last1=Bender |first1=Eric |title=Urban evolution: How species adapt to survive in cities |journal=Knowable Magazine |publisher= Annual Reviews |date=21 March 2022 |doi=10.1146/knowable-031822-1 |doi-access=free |url=https://knowablemagazine.org/article/living-world/2022/urban-evolution-species-adapt-survive-cities |access-date=31 March 2022}}{{cite journal |display-authors=3 |last1=Santangelo |first1=James S. |last2=Ness |first2=Rob W. |last3=Cohan |first3=Beata |last4=Fitzpatrick |first4=Connor R. |last5=Innes |first5=Simon G. |last6=Koch |first6=Sophie |last7=Miles |first7=Lindsay S. |last8=Munim |first8=Samreen |last9=Peres-Neto |first9=Pedro R. |last10=Prashad |first10=Cindy |last11=Tong |first11=Alex T. |last12=Aguirre |first12=Windsor E. |last13=Akinwole |first13=Philips O. |last14=Alberti |first14=Marina |last15=Álvarez |first15=Jackie |last16=Anderson |first16=Jill T. |last17=Anderson |first17=Joseph J. |last18=Ando |first18=Yoshino |last19=Andrew |first19=Nigel R. |last20=Angeoletto |first20=Fabio |last21=Anstett |first21=Daniel N. |last22=Anstett |first22=Julia |last23=Aoki-Gonçalves |first23=Felipe |last24=Arietta |first24=A. 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Trifolium repens is an allotetraploid (2n = 4x = 32) of two diploid ancestors and exhibits disomic inheritance.{{Cite journal|last1=Ellison|first1=Nick W.|last2=Liston|first2=Aaron|last3=Steiner|first3=Jeffrey J.|last4=Williams|first4=Warren M.|last5=Taylor|first5=Norman L.|title=Molecular phylogenetics of the clover genus (Trifolium—Leguminosae)|journal= Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=39|issue=3|pages=688–705|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.004|pmid=16483799|year=2006|bibcode=2006MolPE..39..688E }} In order to increase genetic diversity for breeding, research is focused on finding these ancestors. Proposed ancestors of T. repens include T. nigrescens, T. occidentale, T. pallescens, and T. uniflorum.{{Cite journal|last1=Williams|first1=Warren M.|last2=Ellison|first2=Nicholas W.|last3=Ansari|first3=Helal A.|last4=Verry|first4=Isabelle M.|last5=Hussain|first5=S. Wajid|date=2012-04-24|title=Experimental evidence for the ancestry of allotetraploid Trifolium repens and creation of synthetic forms with value for plant breeding|journal=BMC Plant Biology|volume=12|issue=1 |page=55|doi=10.1186/1471-2229-12-55|pmid=22530692|pmc=3443075|issn=1471-2229 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012BMCPB..12...55W }}{{Cite journal|last1=Williams|first1=W. M.|last2=Ansari|first2=H. A.|last3=Hussain|first3=S. W.|last4=Ellison|first4=N. W.|last5=Williamson|first5=M. L.|last6=Verry|first6=I. M.|date=2008-01-01|title=Hybridization and Introgression between Two Diploid Wild Relatives of White Clover, Trifolium nigrescens Viv. and T. occidentale Coombe|url=https://www.crops.org/publications/cs/abstracts/48/1/139|journal=Crop Science|language=en|volume=48|issue=1|pages=139–148|doi=10.2135/cropsci2007.05.0295|issn=1435-0653|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last1=Badr|first1=A.|last2=El-Shazly|first2=H. H.|last3=Mekki|first3=L.|date=2012-06-01|title=Genetic diversity in white clover and its progenitors as revealed by DNA fingerprinting|journal=Biologia Plantarum|language=en|volume=56|issue=2|pages=283–291|doi=10.1007/s10535-012-0088-0|s2cid=14983555|issn=0006-3134|doi-access=free}} Additionally, it is possible that one of the diploid ancestors has yet to be analyzed, either because it has not been discovered or is extinct.{{Cite journal|last1=Hand|first1=Melanie L.|last2=Ponting|first2=Rebecca C.|last3=Drayton|first3=Michelle C.|last4=Lawless|first4=Kahlil A.|last5=Cogan|first5=Noel O. I.|last6=Brummer|first6=E. Charles|last7=Sawbridge|first7=Timothy I.|last8=Spangenberg|first8=German C.|last9=Smith|first9=Kevin F.|date=2008-10-01|title=Identification of homologous, homoeologous and paralogous sequence variants in an outbreeding allopolyploid species based on comparison with progenitor taxa|journal=Molecular Genetics and Genomics|language=en|volume=280|issue=4|pages=293–304|doi=10.1007/s00438-008-0365-y|pmid=18642031|s2cid=24487483|issn=1617-4615}}

White clover has been described as the most important forage legume of the temperate zones.{{citation

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| bibcode = 1990GForS..45..325O

}}

The O-methylated isoflavones formononetin and biochanin A play a role in arbuscular mycorrhiza formation on white clover roots,Siqueira, J. O., G. R. Safir, and M. G. Nair. "Stimulation of vesicular‐arbuscular mycorrhizal formation and growth of white clover by flavonoid compounds." New Phytologist 118, no. 1 (1991): 87–93. and foliar disease can stimulate production of estrogenic coumestans in white clover.Adams, Norman R. "Detection of the effects of phytoestrogens on sheep and cattle." Journal of Animal Science 73, no. 5 (1995): 1509–1515. However, while there have been a few reports of phytoestrogenic effects of white clover on grazing ruminants, these have been far less common than such reports regarding some varieties of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) and red clover (Trifolium pratense). Among forage plants, some white clover varieties tend to be favored by rather close grazing, because of their stoloniferous habit,Lane, L. A., J. F. Ayres and J. V. Lovett. "The pastoral significance, adaptive characteristics, and grazing value of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) in dryland environments in Australia: a review." Animal Production Science 40, no. 7 (2000): 1033–1046.Caradus, J. R. "Genetic diversity within white clover (Trifolium repens L.)." In Proceedings Agronomy Society of NZ, vol. 24, p. 2. 1994. which can contribute to competitive advantage.

=== Companion planting, green manure, and cover crops ===

White clover grows well as a companion plant among lawns, grain crops, pasture grasses, and vegetable rows. It is often added to lawn seed mixes, as it is able to grow and provide green cover in poorer soils where turfgrasses do not perform well. White clover can tolerate close mowing and grazing, and it can grow on many different types and pHs of soil (although it prefers clay soils). As a leguminous and hardy plant, it is considered to be a beneficial component of natural or organic pasture management and lawn care due to its ability to fix nitrogen and out-compete weeds. Natural nitrogen fixing reduces leaching from the soil and by maintaining soil health can reduce the incidence of some lawn diseases that are enhanced by the availability of synthetic fertilizer.The Organic Lawn Care Manual, Tukey, Storey Publishing. p 183. For these reasons, it is often used as a green manure and cover crop.

Besides making an excellent forage crop for livestock,{{cite web

| last =Coladonato

| first =Milo

| title = Trifolium repens

| publisher = U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory

| date =1993

| url =http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/trirep/all.html

| access-date = 2015-07-26}} its leaves and flowers are a valuable survival food: they are high in proteins, and are widespread and abundant. The fresh plants have been used for centuries as additives to salads and other meals consisting of leafy vegetables.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} They are not easy for humans to digest raw, but, this is however easily fixed by boiling the harvested plants for 5–10 minutes.Lee Allen Peterson, Edible Wild Plants, (New York City: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977), P. 56.

Native Americans ate some species raw.{{Cite book|last=Reiner|first=Ralph E.|title=Introducing the Flowering Beauty of Glacier National Park and the Majestic High Rockies|publisher=Glacier Park, Inc.|year=1969|pages=10}} Dried white clover flowers may also be smoked as a herbal alternative to tobacco.{{cite web|url=http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/clover.html |title=Clover – White |publisher=Foraging Texas |access-date=2018-07-16}}

In India, T. repens is considered a folk medicine against intestinal helminthic worms, and an experimental in-vivo study validated that the aerial shoots of T. repens bear significant anticestodal (anti-tapeworm) properties.Yadav, A. K. 2004. Anticestodal activity of Trifolium repens extract. Pharmaceutical Biology 42: 656–658.

• Four-leaf clover

{{Reflist}}

• {{citation

| last1 = Frame

| first1 = J.

| last2 = Charlton

| first2 = J.F.L.

| last3 = Laidlaw

| first3 = A.S.

| title = Temperate Forage Legumes

| year = 1998

| publisher = CAB International

| location = Wallingford, Oxon

| isbn = 0851992145}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikiversity-bc|Trifolium repens}}

• [https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs144p2_046139.pdf United States Department of Agriculture Trifolium repens fact sheet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720034910/https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs144p2_046139.pdf |date=2022-07-20 }}
• [https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/masanobu-fukuoka-one-straw-revolution-zmaz78jazbur/ Mother Earth News, Masanobu Fukuoka 'One-Straw Revolution']
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWlr3y_j404 Cyanogenesis in White Clover – video and commentary]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LlUk4EbxY8 Root nodules of White Clover – video and commentary]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q148675}}

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repens

Category:Flora of Africa

Category:Flora of Europe

Category:Flora of Asia

Category:Medicinal plants of Europe

Category:Medicinal plants of Africa

Category:Garden plants of Europe

Category:Forages

Category:Nitrogen-fixing crops

Category:Groundcovers

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine

Category:National symbols of the Republic of Ireland

Category:Melliferous flowers

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus