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Taxon:  Trifolium pratense L.



Summary
Genus:
Trifolium
Subgenus:
Trifolium
Section:
Trifolium
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Trifolieae
Nomen number:
300623
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 2:768. 1753
Verified:
03/23/2007 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
352 (328  active, 234  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Trifolium pratense L. var. americanum Harz (0 active accession[s])
Trifolium pratense L. var. perenne Host (0 active accession[s])
Trifolium pratense L. var. pratense (5 active accession[s])
Trifolium pratense L. var. sativum Schreb. (0 active accession[s])
Trifolium pratense L. var. villosum DC. (1 active accession[s])
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
  2. Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin). 2009
  3. Allen, O. N. & E. K. Allen. The Leguminosae. A source book of characteristics, uses, and nodulation. 1981
  4. Converse, R. H., ed. Virus diseases of small fruits. USDA Agriculture Handbook 631. 1987
  5. Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning. 1998
  6. Cronquist, A. et al. Intermountain flora. 1972-
  7. Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
  8. Demilly, D. et al. Liste alphabétique des principales espèces de plantes cultivées et de mauvaises herbes. Noms latins et noms français, ed. 7. 2001
  9. Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
  10. Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
  11. Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
  12. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  13. Foster, S. & C. Hobbs. A field guide to Western medicinal plants and herbs. 2002
  14. Foster, S. & J. A. Duke. A field guide to medicinal plants: Eastern/Central North America, 2nd ed. 2000
  15. Foster, S. & V. E. Tyler. Tyler's honest herbal: a sensible guide to the use of herbs and related remedies, ed. 4. 1999
  16. Gillett, J. M. & N. L. Taylor (M. Collins ed.). The world of clovers. 2001 326.
  17. Graham, E. H. Legumes for erosion control and wildlife. USDA Misc. Publ. 412. 1941
  18. Grellin, J. K. & J. Philpott. A reference guide to medicinal plants. 1990
  19. Hanelt, P., ed. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6. 2001
  20. Huang, S. F. & T. C. Huang. Taxonomic treatment of the Papilionoideae (Leguminosae) of Taiwan. Taiwania 32:11-117. 1987
  21. Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992
  22. Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
  23. International Seed Testing Association. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2. 1982
  24. Kellerman, T. S. et al. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa. 1988
  25. Kingsbury, J. M. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. 1964
  26. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. Flora SSSR. 1934-1964
  27. Kouam&eaccute; C. N. et al. 1997. Response to root-knot nematodes of a germplasm collection of red clover and related species. Genet. Resources Crop Evol. 44:439-445.
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  29. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
  30. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  31. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
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  38. Peirce, A. The American Pharmaceutical Association practical guide to natural medicines. 1999
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  44. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
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  51. Zohary, M. & D. Heller. 1984. The genus Trifolium. 1984 357.
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Common names
English
Chilean clover –
cowgrass clover –
mammoth red clover –
medium red clover –
peavine clover –
purple clover –
red clover –
French
trèfle des prés –
trèfle rouge –
trèfle violet –
German
Rotklee –
Italian
trifoglio pratense –
trifoglio violetta –
Japanese Rōmaji
aka-tsumekusa –
murasaki-tsumekusa –
Portuguese
trevo-dos-prados –
trevo-violeta –
Spanish
trébol común –
trébol rojo –
trébol violeta –
Swedish
rödklöver –
Transcribed Chinese
hong che zhou cao –
Transcribed Korean
bulgeuntokkipul –
Transliterated Russian
klever krasnyj –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusArmenia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusAzerbaijan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusGeorgia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian Federation-CiscaucasiaCiscaucasia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKazakhstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKyrgyzstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTajikistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTurkmenistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateSiberiaRussian Federation-Eastern SiberiaEastern Siberia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateSiberiaRussian Federation-Western SiberiaWestern Siberia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaAfghanistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaCyprus  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIran  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIraq  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIsrael  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaJordan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaLebanon  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeBelarus  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeLatvia  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeLithuania  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeMoldova  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeUkraine  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeAustria  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeBelgium  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeCzechoslovakia  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeGermany  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeHungary  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeNetherlands  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropePoland  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeSwitzerland  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeDenmark  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeFinland  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeIreland  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeNorway  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeSweden  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeUnited Kingdom  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeBulgaria  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeFormer Yugoslavia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeRomania  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
2Cultivated     
4Naturalized     
Native
Africa
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
  • CAUCASUS: Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia [Ciscaucasia], Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
  • MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan
  • SIBERIA: Russian Federation-Western Siberia [Western Siberia], Russian Federation-Eastern Siberia [Eastern Siberia]
  • WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Pakistan
Europe
  • EAST EUROPE: Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Ukraine
  • MIDDLE EUROPE: Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland
  • NORTHERN EUROPE: Denmark, Finland, United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Sweden
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Former Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France, Portugal
Cultivated ()
Naturalized ()
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodfodder Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
Animal foodforage Kouam&eaccute; C. N. et al. 1997. Response to root-knot nematodes of a germplasm collection of red clover and related species. Genet. Resources Crop Evol. 44:439-445.
Bee plantshoney production Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992
Environmentalsoil improver Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992
Food additivesflavoring Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2. 1996
Harmful organism hostcrop diseases Converse, R. H., ed. Virus diseases of small fruits. USDA Agriculture Handbook 631. 1987
Harmful organism hostcrop pests Converse, R. H., ed. Virus diseases of small fruits. USDA Agriculture Handbook 631. 1987
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Kellerman, T. S. et al. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa. 1988
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=300623. Accessed 18 July 2025.


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