RED CLOVER 25 



Red Clover is above all others addicted to a sandy habitat, re- 

 quiring a sandy soil. It is found on Keuper Marl, Lias, Boulder 

 Clay, &c. 



Several fungi infest it: Urophlyctis trifolii, Peronospora trifolii, 

 Sclcrotinia trifoliorum (Clover Sickness), Pseudopeziza trifolii, Gleo- 

 sporium caulivorum, Macrosporium sareni<zformis\ and it is galled by 

 Cecidomyia trifolii. The beetles Sitones lineatus, Apion virens, Phyto- 

 nomus meles; the moths Leucophasia Sinapis, Zygccna trifolii, Lasio- 

 campa trifolii, Eulalia bipunctaria, Eubolia palumbaria, Stigmonita 

 composite lla, and the Hemipterous Orthocephalus saltator feed on Red 

 Clover in one form or another. 



Trifolium (Pliny) is from the Latin tres, three ; folium, leaf, hence 

 trefoil; and pratense alludes to its meadow habitat. Clover is from 

 A.S. clfffer, Belg. klaver, from A.S. c leaf an, to cleave. It is called 

 Beebread, Broad Clover, (Broad, Meadow, Red, or Soukie) Clover, 

 Clatter Malloch, Clover-grass, Cob, Cock's-head, Cow-clover, Cow- 

 grass, Honey-suck, Honeysuckle Trefoil, Knap, Marl-grass, Plyvens, 

 Shamrock, Sleeping Maggie, Sookies, Suck-bottle, Suckies, Sucklers, 

 Suckles, Sucking Sugar Plums. 



Under that tree, and on the suckler brae, 



Where oft we wont, when bairns, to run and play. 



Though called Beebread the hive bee does not visit it. The name 

 Soukie Clover is given because children suck the flowers for honey. 

 In Virginia it was said to have sprung from the blood of men slain 

 in battle. It is a talisman to detect fairies: 



I '11 seek a four-leaved clover 

 In all the fairy dells, 

 And if I find the charmed leaf 

 Oh, how I '11 weave my spells ! 



Two-leaved clover is lucky, and gathered with a formula: 



A clover, a clover of two, 



Put it in your right shoe, 



The first young man you meet, 



In field, street, or lane, 



You '11 get him, or one of his name. 



If a lover puts a sprig of clover in his shoe before he sets out on 

 a journey in Bohemia he will remain faithful, and a lover also puts a 

 four-leaved one under his pillow to dream of his sweetheart. To 

 dream of it foretells a happy marriage. To live in luxury is " to lie 

 in clover '. Bad luck attends the finding of a five-leaved cloven 



