The common name for Trifolium pratense, Red Clover, can be confusing as the flowers are more a pink to pink/purplish, not true red. It is grown as a forage crop for pasturage, hay and green manure for livestock. It is a nitrogen-fixing plant and is often grown as a cover crop to improve soil fertility. Its native habitat includes fields, pastures, meadows, waste areas, and along roadsides. It can be found in grassy locations that are not regularly mowed. It can be easily distinguished from other varieties of clover by the large pink flower heads as well as the chevrons that appear on the leaflets. Its flowers have a honey-like fragrance. The foliage can produce a pleasant clover-like scent. The flowering heads and foliage are both edible, both raw or cooked. Its young leaves should be harvested before the plant flowers. They can be used in salads or soups or cooked similar to spinach. The flowering heads as well as the seed pods can be dried and used as a flour substitute. The young flower are also eaten raw in salads. It has also been widely used for athlete's foot, constipation, ulcers, corms, and menopause. Red clover contains isoflavones. The edible flowers taste sweet or like hay but they are not easily digestible. Do not eat the flowers if pregnant or nursing. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: Its self-seeding and vigorous rhizomes can make this plant weedy. It is listed as invasive in a few states scattered around the county including WV and KY. Clover rot can be an issue.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Clay; Loam (Silt)
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Occasionally Dry
Available space
Less than 12 inches; 12 inches-3 feet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 6 in. - 2 ft. 0 in. | Width: 0 ft. 8 in. - 1 ft. 8 in.
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
Medium
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Ascending; Erect
Texture
Medium
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Obovate
Leaf margin
Entire; Serrate
Leaf value
Edible; Fragrant
Leaf size
1-3 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
Yes
Leaf detail
Long hairy petioles on the lower leaves. Leaflets can be up to 2" long and 3/4" wide. White or light green chevrons appear on the upper surface of each leaflet. 1 to 3 leaflets are directly below each flower head.
Flower color
Pink
Flower value
Edible; Fragrant; Long Bloom Season
Flower form
Head
Flower shape
Tubular
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Each flower head consists of numerous, outward spreading tubular flowers. Flowers have 5 pink/purplish-pink narrow petals.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit value
Edible
Fruit detail
Each flower head is eventually replaced by a seedpod. The con contain 1 or 2 heart shaped seeds.
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
The hairy stem may occasionally branch.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Non-native
Origin
Eurasia
Wildlife value
This plant supports Clouded Sulfur (Colias philodice) larvae which appear from May to October in the North and from March to November in the South. There are 3 flights in the North and 4 to 5 flights in the South. Adult Clouded Sulfur butterflies feed on flower nectar from many different plants. Bees, butterflies (and their caterpillars) and some moths are attracted to the nectar.