106 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



WHITE CLOVER (Trifoliiim repens L.) 

 Plate 19; Seed, Plate 27, Fig. 31. 

 Other English name: Dutch Clover. 



Botanical description: White Clover is a perennial which in 

 its natural state grows in patches. The stems are creeping and root 

 at the joints. A single plant has thus the faculty of spreading over 

 a wide area. From the stems, trailing along the surface of the ground, 

 are developed upright leaves and flower-bearing heads, both pro- 

 vided with long stalks. In daytime and under normal conditions 

 the three leaflets of which each leaf consists spread on the same 

 level, giving the plant its well-known deep green shade. Toward 

 evening, however, the plants take on quite a different look. The 

 three-cleft leaves seem to have disappeared and to be replaced by 

 small leaves of a bluish grey colour. When the sun begins to set, 

 the two lateral leaflets move down toward the leaf stalk, at the same 

 time turning so as to stand finally face to face. The central leaflet 

 leans over, turning its bluish grey lower side upward so as to cover 

 the two lateral leaflets. When the lateral leaflets are face to face 

 and the central leaflet turned over their edge, the leaf is said to be 

 asleep. Similar movements may be observed in any of the common 

 species of clover and in a great number of other plants. They are 

 especially conspicuous in the Shamrock. 



The heads of White Clover develop from the lower parts of the 

 stem, the heads of Alsike from the upper. White Clover heads are 

 smaller than those of Alsike and the flowers are pure white. As in 

 other clover species, the flowering starts from the base of the head. 

 As the blossoms turn brown and remain so without falling, the same 

 head may be white in the upper part and brown in the lower. 



Biology of flower: White Clover is fertilized by insects which 

 carry pollen from one flower to another. Seeds will not develop 

 unless the flowers are fertilized by pollen from another plant. The 

 blossoms are rich in honey, and as this can be reached by the ordinary 

 honey bee, White Clover is of great importance to beekeepers. When 

 ripe the pods are oblong and contain three to five seeds. 



Geographical distribution: White Clover is indigenous to all 

 Europe, southwestern Asia, Siberia and northern Africa. It is also 

 claimed to be native to Canada and the United States, but this is 

 doubtful. The locations where it occurs naturally in Canada are 



