Hare's-foot Clover

Scientific Name:

Trifolium arvense

Population of Hare's-foot Clover
Photo: A J Brown

Status:

Native to Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa.

Plant Description:

Annual herb with erect or ascending habit. Stems 5-40 cm long, delicate and covered with silky hairs. Leaves are trifoliate with linear-oblong to narrow-elliptic leaflets, 5-20 mm long and 2-5 mm wide, softly hairy, toothless or finely toothed at the apex and with a small mucro point. Stipules (leaf-like structures at the base of the leaf and flower-stalks) membranous.

Flowers white or pink, many, in an ovoid or cylindrical head, 10-40 mm long and 10 mm wide.

Habitat:

Widespread and common weed of pastures and waste areas across Victoria. Typically a plant of fresh-water habitats but may occur on the fringes of saline swamps and flats during wetter periods.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
Mallee, Loddon Murray, Central and Northern, Wimmera, Western, Gippsland	S0, S1, S2	W0, W1, W2

*may be found on or fringing saline sites during the wetter parts of the year

Comments:

One of a number of small annual clovers found in pastures, waste ground and bordering swamps, lakes and water courses. A simple key to the more common of these species is provided (Key to common annual clovers). Other clovers, but with a perennial habit, include Strawberry Clover (Trifolium fragiferum), White Clover (Trifolium repens) and Red Clover (Trifolium pratense).

Hare's-foot Clover photos

Hare's-foot Clover plants
Photo: A J Brown

Leaves and flowers of Hare's-foot Clover
Photo: A J Brown

Hare's-foot Clover flowerhead
Hare's-foot Clover flower-head
Photo: A J Brown

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Hare's-foot Clover plants Photo: A J Brown	Leaves and flowers of Hare's-foot Clover Photo: A J Brown
Hare's-foot Clover flower-head Photo: A J Brown