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Taxon:  Trifolium subterraneum L.



Summary
Genus:
Trifolium
Subgenus:
Trifolium
Section:
Trichocephalum
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Trifolieae
Nomen number:
300628
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 2:767. 1753
Verified:
03/23/2007 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
2456 (2105  active, 1943  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Trifolium subterraneum L. subsp. brachycalycinum Katzn. & Morley (2176 active accession[s])
Trifolium subterraneum L. subsp. subterraneum (4649 active accession[s])
Trifolium subterraneum L. subsp. yanninicum Katzn. & Morley (137 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. Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. Flora of Libya. 1976-
  4. Boonman, J. G. 1993. East Africa's grasses and fodders: their ecology and husbandry. 192.
  5. Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning. 1998
  6. Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
  7. Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
  8. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  9. Gillett, J. M. & N. L. Taylor (M. Collins ed.). The world of clovers. 2001 402.
  10. Graham, E. H. Legumes for erosion control and wildlife. USDA Misc. Publ. 412. 1941
  11. International Seed Testing Association. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2. 1982
  12. Iwatsuki, K. et al. Flora of Japan. 1993-
  13. Izquierdo Z., I. et al., eds. Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias: hongos, plantas y animales terrestres. 2004
  14. Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc. 1931-1941
  15. Kellerman, T. S. et al. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa. 1988
  16. Kingsbury, J. M. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. 1964
  17. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
  18. Martin, W. P. 1948. Observations on the nodulation of leguminous plants of the Southwest. Albuquerque Regional Bull. Soil Conserv. Serv. U.S.D.A. 107:1-10.
  19. Meikle, R. D. Flora of Cyprus. 1977-1985
  20. National Academy of Sciences. Tropical legumes: resources for the future. 1979
  21. Pignatti, S. Flora d'Italia. 1982
  22. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  23. Pottier-Alapetite, G. Flore de la Tunisie: Angiospermes-Dicotyledones. 1979-1981
  24. Quézel, P. & S. Santa. Nouvelle flore de l'Algerie. 1962-1963
  25. Rechinger, K. H., ed. Flora iranica. 1963-
  26. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
  27. Silva, L. et al. Listagem da fauna e flora terrestres dos Açores. Lista des plantas vasculares (Pteridophyta e Spermatophyta). 2005
  28. Smythies, B. E. Flora of Spain and the Balearic Islands: checklist of vascular plants. Englera 3:1-882. 1984-1986
  29. Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. Flora of Iraq. 1966-
  30. University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. UC SAREP on-line cover crop database (on-line resource).
  31. Weber, E. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds. 2003
  32. Zohary, M. & D. Heller. 1984. The genus Trifolium. 1984 525.
  33. Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. Flora palaestina. 1966-
Common names
English
sub clover –
subterranean clover –
French
trèfle souterrain –
German
Erdklee –
Italian
trifoglio sotteraneo –
Japanese Rōmaji
jimoguri-tsumekusa –
Portuguese
trevo-subterrâneo –
Swedish
grävklöver –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaMacaronesiaPortugalMadeira Islands 
1NativeAfricaMacaronesiaSpainCanary Islands 
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusAzerbaijan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusGeorgia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian Federation-CiscaucasiaCiscaucasia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaCyprus  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIran  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIsrael  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaLebanon  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaSyria  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeUkraine  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeIreland  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeUnited Kingdom  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeBulgaria  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeFormer Yugoslavia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeRomania  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
2Cultivated     
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaPortugalAzores 
4NaturalizedAustralasiaAustraliaAustralia  
4NaturalizedAustralasiaNew ZealandNew Zealand  
4NaturalizedNorthern America United States  
4NaturalizedPacificNorth-Central PacificUnited StatesHawaii 
Native
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Spain [Canary Islands], Portugal [Madeira Islands]
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
  • CAUCASUS: Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia [Ciscaucasia], Azerbaijan, Georgia
  • WESTERN ASIA: Cyprus, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
Europe
  • EAST EUROPE: Ukraine
  • NORTHERN EUROPE: United Kingdom, Ireland
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Former Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France, Portugal
Cultivated ()
Naturalized
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Portugal [Azores]
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia
  • NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand
Northern America
  • REGION: United States
Pacific
  • NORTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: United States [Hawaii]
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodforage Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
Environmentalerosion control University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. UC SAREP on-line cover crop database (on-line resource).
Environmentalsoil improver University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. UC SAREP on-line cover crop database (on-line resource).
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Kellerman, T. S. et al. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa. 1988
Weed  Weber, E. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds. 2003
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=300628. Accessed 18 July 2025.


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