Pea Family - Clovers

Pea Family - Fabaceae

White Clover Trifolium repens

Native throughout most of Eurasia, south to India and East Africa.


Habit	Flowerhead	Leaf	Seedhead

Clustered Clover Trifolium glomeratum

Native from Macaronesia and Western Europe, through the Mediterranean Region to Iran. Flowers very narrow and producing spike-like clusters in very rounded flowerheads. After flowering, the old petals persist as brownish spikes and the calyx lobes expand and overlap to form a solid-looking globe.


Flowers	Flowers	Leaf	Seedhead

Bladder Clover Trifolium spumosum

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region and Middle East to Iran. A large-leaved species with large flowerheads, though the individual flowers are rather small and narrow, with greatly inflated calyxes.


Flowers and leaf	Flowers	Flowers	Inflated calyxes

Strawberry Clover Trifolium fragiferum

Native throughout Europe and North Africa to Central Asia and India. A low, creeping species with rooting leafnodes like White Clover. Flowers pale pink and usually in somewhat smaller heads than those of Red Clover. Most distinctive after flowering, when the seedheads swell to form rounded structures that rather resemble small strawberries.


Habit	Flowerhead	Leaf	Seedhead

Reversed Clover Trifolium resupinatum

Native from Macaronesia, through the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Nepal.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers	Flowers

Leaf	Seed heads	Seed heads	Seed heads

Woolly Clover Trifolium tomentosum

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region and Middle East to Iran and North-east Africa. A common and distinctive species on Lesvos, with the calyxes swelling to form inflated, woolly balls.


Flowers and seed capsules	Flowers	Flowers

Leaf	Leaf stipule	Early seed heads	Mature seed heads

Cotton-ball Clover Trifolium pilulare

Native from Greec and Turkey, through the Middle East to Iran.


Habit	Habit	Habit	Flower

Leaf	Seed heads	Seed heads	Seed heads

Knotted Clover Trifolium striatum

Native throughout most of Europe. from Macaronesia to the Caucasus and Iran. A tiny, prostrate species (occasionally taller amongst grass stems) with softly hairy stems and leaves. Flowers pink, in rather narrow heads. After flowering, the main body of the calyxes swell to form a cluster of small barrel shapes, all with prominent, red ribs.


Habit	Flowers	Leaf	Seedhead

Rough Clover Trifolium scabrum

Native throughout western and southern Europe, the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East.


Habit	Flowers	Leaf	Seedhead

Hare's-foot Clover Trifolium arvense

Native throughout most of Europe to Central Asia, Iran and North Africa. A small, but bushy and much-branched species with distinctly hairy flowerheads and narrow leaflets. Flowers are pink in bud, opening white.


Habit	Flowers	Leaf	Seedheads

Twin-headed Clover Trifolium bocconei

Native to Macaronesia, Western Europe and the Mediterranean Region. An unusual species with the flowerheads usually carried in pairs, one head a little smaller than the other.


Habit	Flowerheads	Upper leaf

Starry Clover Trifolium stellatum

Native from Macaronesia through the Mediterranean to Iran.


Habit	Flowers	Leaf	Seedhead

Red Clover Trifolium pratense

Native throughout Europe and most of Asia and also widely planted for animal fodder and as a nitrogen fixer. A very variable species but typically rather upright, not with creeping stems. Leaflets rather narrow and elongate, usually with a clear, pale mark. Leaf stipules rather broad and membranous, terminating in a fine, bristle-like tip. Typically, a leaf and its broad stipules will be found immediately beneath the flowerhead. Occasional plants with white flowers may appear, but these can be identified correctly by the leaf and stipule detail.


Flowerhead	White form	Leaf	Leaf stipule

Bur Clover Trifolium lappaceum

Native to the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Central Asia. Flowers in rounded, spiky-looking balls, bocming more bristly and bur-like in appearance as the seed capsules develop.


Habit	Flowerhead	Flowerhead	Flowerheads

Flowerhead	Seed head	Leaf

Cherler's Clover Trifolium cherleri

Native to the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Iran.


Flowers	Flowers	Leaf	Seedhead

Rose Clover Trifolium hirtum

Native to the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Iran. Flowerheads large, with bright, rose-pink flowers.


Habit	Flowerhead	Flowerhead	Flowers

Leaf

Narrow-leaved Clover Trifolium angustifolium

Native from Macaronesia and the Mediterranean Region to Iran. An upright species with very elongate flowerheads and long, narrow leaflets. Flowers pale pink.


Habit	Flowerhead	Flowerhead	Flowers

Leaf	Leaf stipule

Purple Clover Trifolium purpureum

Native throughout most of the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Iran. A large, showy species, sometimes cultivated as part of a fodder crop.


Flowerhead	Flowerhead	Flowerhead	Flowers

Leaves	Leaf	Leaf stipules	Seed heads

Sulphur Clover Trifolium ochroleucon

Native throughout most of Europe to North-west Africa and Iran. Similar to White Clover but the individual flowers are narrower and have a distinct yellowish tint to them. The leaflets are relatively narrow and the whole plant is distinctly hairy. The leaf stipules are narrow and bristle-like.


Habit	Flowerhead	Leaf	Leaf stipule

Coarse Clover Trifolium squarrosum

Native to the Mediterranean Region and North-west Africa. Flowerheads strikingly large and stems coarsely hairy.


Habit	Flowerhead	Flowerhead	Flowers

Leaf	Leaf stipule	Stipule base and stem

Shield Clover Trifolium clypeatum

Native to the Eastern Mediterranean Region, from Crete and Turkey to the Levant.


Habit	Flowerhead

One-flowered Clover Trifolium uniflorum

Native to scattered areas of the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. An unusual clover, forming flat mats of leaves with the relatively large, broad-petalled flowers carried singly rather than in heads.


Habit	Flowers	Flower	Leaf

Subterranean Clover Trifolium subterraneum

Native throughout much of Europe, the Mediterranean Region and eastwards to Iran. Flower stems arch down into the ground as the seeds develop.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers

Leaf	Leaf stipule

Suffocated Clover Trifolium suffocatum

Native from Macaronesia, through the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Iran. A tiny, prostrate species that forms a tight rosette of calyxes, surrounded by a ring of long-stalked leaves. The flowers are dull white, the petals shorter than the surrounding calyx and difficult to spot. The red-tinged calyxes form a prickly-looking knot at the centre of the plant with their strongly reflexed and overlapping lobes.


Habit	Habit	Leaf	Seedheads

Flora of Lesvos An Identification Guide

Pea Family - Clovers

Pea Family - Fabaceae

Species List

Flora of Lesvos
An Identification Guide