UTILIZATION 417 



JAPAN CLOVER 



Japan clover is a low-growing annual from east Asia. It is not 

 known when or how it was introduced into the United States, but it 

 was found growing more or less wild in Georgia as early as 1846. 

 It has spread as a wild plant throughout all southern States north 

 to Virginia and west to Texas. 



Description. Japan clover is an annual, growing six to eight 

 inches high under ordinary conditions, but under very favorable con- 

 ditions it sometimes reaches a height of twelve to fifteen inches. It 

 is sensitive to frost and grows only during hot weather. It covers 

 the ground with a thick, close mat of vine-like plants with minute 

 blossoms and clover-like leaves. 



Adaptations. As a wild plant, Japan clover has not spread very 

 much north of Virginia. The region where it seems to be best 

 adapted as a cultivated crop is from Virginia southward. It grows 

 on almost any well-drained soil, with remarkable ability to grow 

 well on poor, sandy soil. It will also withstand considerable shade, 

 which adapts it to lawn purposes. Japan clover has apparently 

 reached its best development in the lower Mississippi Valley, where 

 it is recognized as a forage plant of considerable value. 



Culture. The seeds of Japan clover normally ripen from about 

 September, when they fall on the ground, but do not germinate 

 until the warm weather of the following spring. It grows rapidly 

 and soon covers the ground with a thick mat which begins to blossom 

 in about two months and the seed crop is ripened in about four 

 months. It usually seeds very abundantly. The seed can be sown 

 any time during the winter months and is usually sown with winter 

 grain. After harvest it takes possession of the ground and usually 

 reseeds so abundantly that it is not necessary to sow it a second time 

 if it is desired to keep the land in Japan clover. 



Utilization. Japan clover makes an excellent summer pasture, 

 and is about the only legume well adapted to grow with Bermuda 

 grass. A mixture of Bermuda grass and Japan clover with burr clover 

 furnishes a year-round pasture in the South. While both Japan clover 

 and burr clover are annuals, they reseed themselves so abundantly 

 27 



