Index / Search / Trifolium pratense

§1 Plant — species · Fabaceae

Trifolium pratense L.

vernacular red clover


USDA
TRPR2
GBIF
8324121
Rank
species
red clover (Trifolium pratense)
Platephotograph · Andreas RocksteinCC BY-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Biennial, Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus
Trifolium
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Introduced
  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • GL Greenland Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • PR Puerto Rico Introduced
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Introduced

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-34 °F minimum
Frost-free days
120 min.
Precipitation
18–65 in/yr
pH range
5.5–7.6
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
2 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Red
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
Medium
Toxicity
Slight
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
272,160
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
High
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
High
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 41 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/TRPR2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/8324121 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z