.'«ii* 



STRAWBERRY 



CLOVER: ^^ 



A LEGUME J^* 

 FOR THE WEST 





By E. A. Hollowell, Crops Research Division, 

 Agricultural Research Service 



Strawberry clover ^ is one of the more important 

 pasture legumes for seeped, saline, and alkaline soils 

 in the Western States. Its tolerance to wet soils, 

 and to soils containing concentrations of salt that 

 inhibit the growth of most other crop plants, permits 

 profitable use of much land in the West that other- 

 wise would be wasteland. It also thrives on normal 

 soils in that region. Although strawberry clover 

 will live under relatively dry conditions and will sur- 

 vive short periods of drought, it does not grow well 

 under those conditions. It survives flooding for 1 to 

 2 months. 



DESCRIPTION 



This clover, a perennial, spreads by means of 

 creeping stems that root at the nodes. It is similar 

 to white clover in appearance of leaves and stems 

 and in habit of growth. Before plants reach blos- 

 som stage it is difficult to distinguish them from cer- 

 tain types of white clover. However, the flower 

 heads, seed pods, and seed are distinctive. 



Flower heads are mostly pink to white and usually 

 are round; some are slightly pointed (fig. 1). Their 

 resemblance to strawberries gives the clover its 

 common name. 



As the seed matures, the seed envelope becomes 

 inflated and looks like a tiny balloon. It is gray 

 to light brown. When the seed is ripe, the balloons 

 break off" from the heads. They may be spread by 

 water or by the wind. 



Seed color varies, but usually is reddish brown or 

 yellow flecked with dark markings. Most samples 

 contain a few seeds without markings. The seed is 

 much larger than white clover seed, and slightly 

 smaller than red clover seed. 



Trifolium fragiferum. J 



