T. PKATENSE, L. RED CLOVER. 833 



T. i>rateiise, L. Red < lover, Broad leaved Clover, Coiiimou 

 Clover, MeadoAV Trefoil. — More or less pubescent, leaflets ob- 

 long, stipules membnuioiiy. free portion appressed to the peti- 

 ole, heads terminal, sessile, globose, at length ovoid, subtented 

 by opi^osite leaves with much dilated stipules, calyx-teeth slen- 

 der, setaceous, erect, or spreading in fruit, the lowest longest. 



Pastures, roadsides, etc., ascending to 1,000 ft. in the High- 

 lands [of Great Britain] ; flowers from May to September. An- 

 nual, biennial or i)erennial. SfmiM G-24 in., solid or fistular, 

 robust or slender. Lec/Jfcfs 4-2 in., often marked with a white 

 spot or lunate band, finely toothed; stipules often 1-l^r in., with 

 long setaceous points. Heads -^-14 in. diam., pink, purple or 

 dirty white. Cali/.r-fube with a 2-lipped connection in the throat, 

 strongly nerved : teeth not exceeding the petals, very slender, un- 

 equal. Pod opening by the top falling off. Found in Europe, 

 'N. Africa, Siberia, W. Asia to India; introduced in Is. America 

 certainly before the Revolution. 



Early History. — Although in a general way this is a plant 

 familiar to all farmers, there are many things in regard to its 

 habits, variation and other peculiarities yet to learn. The ex- 

 pression "To live in clover" has l)ecome proverbial, and is 

 another way of designating a good living. With a field of clover 

 knee high, or wp to the eyes, means fat cattle and swine and 

 bunchy sheep. Some one styles the plant ''The red plumed 

 commander-in-chief of the manurial forces." 



Red clover was known and prized over 2,000 years ago by the 

 Greeks and Romans, but it can hardly l)e said to have been cul- 

 tivated, even in the simplest way, till used in England about 

 1633, — 253 years ago, or 44 years before the cultivation of peren- 

 nial rye grass, and nearly 100 years before that of any other of 

 the true grasses. 



Fig. 128.— Tri/oiiMm pratense, L. (Tied Clover), part of a plant and a flower enlarged. 

 — (Sudworth.) 



