White Clover | Plant Information

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Fabales

Family:

Fabaceae (Pea)

Also in this family:

Alsike Clover, Birdsfoot, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Bitter Vetchling, Black Medick, Bladder Senna, Broad Bean, Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea, Bush Vetch, Common Broom, Common Gorse, Common Laburnum, Common Restharrow, Common Vetch, Crown Vetch, Dyer's Greenweed, False Acacia, Garden Pea, Goat's Rue, Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil, Hairy Tare, Haresfoot Clover, Hop Trefoil, Horseshoe Vetch, Kidney Vetch, Lesser Trefoil, Lucerne, Meadow Vetchling, Narrow-leaved Vetch, Red Clover, Ribbed Melilot, Russell Lupin, Scottish Laburnum, Smooth Tare, Spanish Gorse, Strawberry Clover, Tall Melilot, Tree Lupin, Tufted Vetch, Western Gorse, White Lupin, White Melilot, Zigzag Clover

Type:

Flower

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Maximum Size:

40 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Gardens, grassland, lawns, meadows, roadsides, wasteland, woodland.

Flower:

White, 5 petals

Dull white becoming brown with age, egg-shaped, up to 2cm wide.

Fruit:

A linear pea-like pod which contains 3 or 4 heart-shaped yellow-brown seeds.

Leaves:

The leaves are trifoliate which means that they are divided into 3. The leaves are long-stalked and individual leaflets are circular with fine teeth along the margins. The leaves often have pale green or white v-shaped patterns on them. Occasionally (1 in 5,000 specimens) you may find a 4-leaf clover which is considered good luck. Even luckier is a 5-leaf clover which is estimated to occur in about 1 in 20,000 specimens.

Aroma:

Scented flowers.

Other Names:

Common Clover, Dutch Clover, Honeystalk, Kentish Clover, Ladino, Ladino Clover, Lamb Suckling, Trinity Leaf, White Trefoil.

Frequency (UK):

Abundant

Similar Species:

Alsike Clover

Strawberry Clover