Red Clover is one of the most familiar clovers of British grassland. Its rounded pink-red flower heads rise above three-part leaves, often with a pale crescent or V-shaped marking on each leaflet.
It belongs to Fabaceae, the pea family, alongside vetches, peas, beans and Bird’s-foot Trefoil. Like many members of this family, Red Clover can form a partnership with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in nodules on its roots.
Identification
- Usually 20–50 cm tall, although vigorous plants may grow taller.
- Rounded to slightly oval heads of pink, reddish-purple or occasionally paler flowers.
- Each head is made up of many small pea-shaped florets.
- Leaves usually have three oval leaflets — a form known as trifoliate.
- Each leaflet commonly carries a pale V-shaped or crescent marking.
- Stems and leaves are often softly hairy.
The combination of pink-red flower heads, hairy stems and marked trifoliate leaves makes Red Clover quite distinctive.
Flower structure
A Red Clover flower head is not a single flower. It is a dense cluster containing many individual florets.
Each floret has the characteristic pea-family form, with an upper standard petal, two lateral wing petals and two lower petals forming the keel.
The compact flower head helps present many nectar-bearing florets together to visiting insects.
Leaves
The leaves are usually arranged alternately along the stem and are divided into three leaflets.
The leaflets are broadly oval or elliptical and are often marked with a whitish crescent or V. At the base of each leaf are stipules — small leaf-like structures that are common in the pea family.
Occasionally a clover leaf develops four or more leaflets, but three is the normal number.
Habitat
Red Clover is widespread in grassy places, including:
- hay meadows
- pastures and other farmland
- roadside verges
- parks and gardens
- field margins
- other ungrazed or lightly managed grassland
It is also deliberately sown in agricultural grasslands and meadow mixtures.
Flowering period
Red Clover flowers mainly from May to October, with the strongest display usually during the summer months.
Similar species
Zigzag Clover (Trifolium medium) can look similar, but tends to have narrower, less obviously marked leaflets and a more zigzagging stem. Its flower heads are usually on short stalks rather than appearing closely nestled among the upper leaves.
White Clover (Trifolium repens) has white to pink-tinged flower heads and a creeping growth habit, rooting at the stem nodes.
Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum) has longer, more cylindrical crimson flower heads rather than the rounded heads of Red Clover.
Folklore & history
Red Clover has a long agricultural history. It has been grown as a fodder crop and used in hay meadows, and farmers have valued it in rotations because its root nodules help add biologically fixed nitrogen to the soil.
Older English names include Bee Bread, Cow Grass, Marl Grass, Purple Clover and Suckles, reflecting its importance to livestock, pollinators and rural life.
Clover more generally has a long association with luck and folklore. The rare four-leaved form has traditionally been treated as a lucky charm, while three-leaved clovers have acquired many symbolic meanings over the centuries. In a 19th-century Language of Flowers, Red Clover was associated with industry.
Red Clover also has a history of use in folk medicine. Those traditional uses are part of its cultural history rather than guidance for modern medical treatment.
Wildlife
Red Clover is an excellent nectar plant, particularly for bumblebees. Its relatively deep flowers are especially well suited to long-tongued species, while honeybees and other pollinating insects also visit the flower heads.
The Wildlife Trusts notes that its leaves are collected by wood mice, adding to its value within grassland food webs.