Scientific name: Trifolium pratense L.
Common name: Red Clover
Description
Habit: A hairy perennial, to 60 cm high.
Stems: Semi-erect or erect.
Leaves: Alternate, pinnate, usually with 3 leaflets; leaflets stalkless, oval, 35 mm long, often with whitish V-shaped mark near the base; stipules narrowed near the tip to a hair-like point.
Flowers: Purple-red, zygomorphic, 10-15 mm across, numerous in large, stalkless or shortly stalked, globular heads found between the uppermost pair of leaves; calyx of 5 sepals fused into a tube, without glandular hairs, calyx teeth unequal; petals 5, forming 2 free wings, 2 are fused to form lower keel and 1 conceals the stamens and carpel, partly united with each other and the stamens; stamens 10, 9 fused to form a tube, 10th stamen free; carpel 1, style 1.
Fruits: A legume pod.
Habitat: Roadsides, grassland.
Distribution: Abundant throughout.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No