The Brown Clover 



{TRIFOLIUM BADIUM) 



Unlike the greater number of Alpine plants which persist 

 from year to year the Brown Clover is a biennial, that is to 

 say, its life is limited to two years, and at the end of its 

 second summer the plant dies off. It is found abundantly 

 in the limestone districts of Switzerland between 4000 and 

 7000 feet, and flowers in July and August. It grows in 

 meadows and pastures, and seems to prefer a moist, open spot, 

 where the competition with other plants will be less severe. 

 Thus it is met with on moraines, on the fresh soil brought 

 down by avalanches and streams, and even on the dirt heaps 

 around Alpine cow houses. The much-branched brownish 

 stem bears the rather long-stalked leaves, composed of three 

 leaflets with serrated margins and blunt points. The flower- 

 heads, made up of numerous florets closely packed together, 

 are at first of a golden yellow colour. As the individual 

 flowers fade — and the lowest fade first — they become brown 

 and scale-like and turn downwards, and the dry brown 

 corolla remaining attached to the seed forms an important 

 aid in its dispersal by the wind. The Brown Clover is 

 widely distributed in the mountain regions of Central Europe. 

 It will be readily recognised by its globular flower-heads of 

 yellow flowers and bright green leaves made up of three 

 leaflets, which are arranged opposite to one another on the 

 upper part of the stem. 



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