Clover, also called trefoil, are plants of the genus Trifolium, consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with highest diversity in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics. They are small annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial herbaceous plants, typically growing up to 30 centimetres (12 in) tall. The leaves are trifoliate, monofoliate, bifoliolate, quinquefoliolate, hexafoliolate, septafoliolate, etcetera, with stipules adnate to the leaf-stalk, and heads or dense spikes of small red, purple, white, or yellow flowers; the small, few-seeded pods are enclosed in the calyx. Other closely related genera often called clovers include Melilotus and Medicago.
Trifolium repens, the white clover, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe, including the British Isles, and central Asia and is one of the most widely cultivated types of clover. It has been widely introduced worldwide as a forage crop, and is now also common in most grassy areas of North America, Australia and New Zealand. The species includes varieties often classed as small, intermediate and large, according to height, which reflects petiole length. The term 'white clover' is applied to the species in general, 'Dutch clover' is often applied to intermediate varieties, and 'ladino clover' is applied to large varieties.
Trifolium wormskioldii is a species of clover native to the western half of North America. Its common names include cows clover, coast clover, sand clover, seaside clover, springbank clover, and Wormskjold's clover.
Trifolium dubium, the lesser trefoil, suckling clover, little hop clover or lesser hop trefoil, is a flowering plant in the pea and clover family Fabaceae. This species is generally accepted as the primary plant to represent the traditional Irish shamrock.
Phyllodoce is a small genus of plants in the heather family, Ericaceae. They are known commonly as mountainheaths, mountain heaths, or mountain heathers. They are native to North America and Eurasia, where they have a circumboreal distribution.
Cardamine breweri is a species of cardamine known by the common name Brewer's bittercress. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in coniferous forests, particularly in wet bog habitats.
Trifolium cyathiferum is a species of clover known by the common names cup clover and bowl clover.
Trifolium andersonii is a species of clover known by the common names fiveleaf clover and Anderson's clover. It is native to the western United States, particularly the Great Basin and adjacent high mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada. It was named after Charles Lewis Anderson by Asa Gray.
Trifolium angustifolium is a species of clover known by the common names narrowleaf crimson clover, narrow clover and narrow-leaved clover.
Trifolium beckwithii is a species of clover known by the common name Beckwith's clover.
Trifolium bolanderi is a species of clover known by the common names Bolander's clover and parasol clover.
Trifolium buckwestiorum is a rare species of clover known by the common name Santa Cruz clover.
Trifolium howellii is a species of clover known by the common names canyon clover and Howell's clover. It is native to Oregon and California, where it grows in moist and shady habitat types, such as swamps and forest streambanks.
Trifolium lemmonii is a species of clover known by the common name Lemmon's clover.
Trifolium macrocephalum is a species of clover known by the common name largehead clover or bighead clover native to the Great Basin region of the western United States.
Trifolium monanthum is a species of clover known by the common name mountain carpet clover.
Trifolium obtusiflorum is a species of clover known by the common name clammy clover. It is native to California in the Peninsular, Transverse, Sierra Nevada, and the California Coast Ranges and Cascade Range into southwestern Oregon.
Trifolium variegatum is a species of clover known by the common name whitetip clover. It is native to western North America from southern Alaska and British Columbia to Baja California, where it occurs in many types of habitat.
Trifolium jokerstii is a rare species of clover known by the common names Jim's clover and Butte County golden clover. It is endemic to Butte County, California, where it is known from eight or nine occurrences near Oroville. It grows in seasonally moist habitat, such as vernal pools, pastures, and ephemeral creeks. It was previously included within the description of Trifolium barbigerum as an odd yellow-flowered variant of a mostly purple-pink-flowered species, and was elevated to species status in 1998. It was named for the California botanist Jim Jokerst.
Trifolium siskiyouense, the Siskiyou clover, is a clover species endemic to the Klamath Mountains in the western United States.
