The WALA Plant Library
Red Clover

Synonyms for Red Clover: Cowgrass, purple clover, trefoil
Scientific Name: Trifolium pratense L.
Family: Fabaceae (Pea family)

Description:

They peer from almost every meadow from May to September – the round, red-white porcupine heads of red clover. Clover stems can grow to 50 centimetres long and are often tinted red. They grow from a short rootstock, carpeting the ground. The elongated trifoliate (having three leaflets) clover leaves have a characteristic lighter patch in the middle. The stems, like the leaves, are covered with whitish hairs. Numerous elongated florets gather in flower heads which are visited and pollinated only by long-tongued bumblebees. These love red clover blossoms, which are rich in nectar and an abundant source of honey.
Like all members of the Fabaceae family, red clover lives in a symbiotic relationship with root nodule bacteria (Rhizobiaceae) to maximise its supply of nitrogen. Nitrogen is essential for the construction of proteins and DNA. It must, however, be available in its bound form, as nitrate or uric acid for example; otherwise few living organisms are able to process it. Only a limited amount of nitrogen is normally available in its bound form. But through the symbiosis the root nodule bacteria are able to bind otherwise useless elementary nitrogen and make it available to themselves and the red clover. “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” – a true symbiosis.