Trifolium incarnatum

Incarnate clover (Trifolium incarnatum )

The flesh tones Clover called (Trifolium incarnatum ), also blood rose clover or clover, a plant of the genus clover ( Trifolium ), the subfamily Fabaceae ( Faboideae ) is a part of the plant family Leguminosae ( Fabaceae ). The incarnate clover is grown for forage.

Description

The incarnate clover is an annual (rarely biennial ), herbaceous plant that reaches the stature heights of between 20 and 50 centimeters. The protruding or created shaggy hairy stems are erect or ascending and rare, but branched at most sparse.

The alternate and spiral standing leaves are quite large and three parts for clover. The hairy leaflets are 1-2 inches long and 1 to 1.5 inches wide. They are obovate with a short wedge- shaped base. The edges of the leaflets are slightly serrated, the tip is rounded or slightly notched. The lower ones are long stalks. The petiole is 4.5 to 17.4 inches long. The häutchenartigen stipules continue in the lower part like a leaf sheath and are fused with the leaf stems on three fifths of its length; the free part is hairy green or purple, ovate, serrated, ribbed and stand-off.

Incarnate clover blooms from May to August. The terminal, aged men inflorescences are elongate, 2-6 inches long and 1 to 1.5 inches wide. In the fruit maturity, the inflorescence and the stem extended thickens directly below. The hermaphrodite, zygomorphe flower is fünfzählig. The five Roehrig fused sepals are about 0.8 to 1 centimeter long and spreading, hairy long. The cup is ten annoying with linealischen, uniform, long bristly teeth. The calyx teeth are as long as the calyx tube or twice.

The five red or pink, rarely cream-colored petals are partly overgrown. The crown is with a length from 1 to 1.4 centimeters usually longer than the calyx. The flag is considerably longer than keel and wings. It is long - elliptical with a sharp tip. Nine of the ten fertile stamens are fused. The only constant upper carpel containing one to twelve seeds of plants.

In the fruit ripening opens the cup, the cup tube is constricted by a thickened ring and the Goblet teeth protrude apart. It forms a single-seeded, ovoid, häutchenartige legume with cartilage- like tip having a length of 2 to 2.5 mm and a width of 1 to 1.5 mm. Of yellowish green, ovoid seed has a diameter of about 2 millimeters. The seed weight is 310000-330000 seeds per kilogram.

Occurrence

Its natural habitat is the Mediterranean with Portugal, Spain, France, Italy (including all islands ), the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey. But he is also native to the British Isles. Its use as a food plant, there are many neophyte reserves in the world.

Incarnate clover is found in fields, pastures, meadows and roadsides.

System

The species is found in the genus Trifolium in the section, subsection stellata. We have described two varieties:

• T. L. var i incarnatum: With blood-red, rarely white crown that as long as the calyx. The shoot axis is stocky, the heads tight.
• T. i var molinerii ( Balb. ex Hornem. ) Ser. Creme with yellow, rarely pink -colored crown that is significantly longer than the calyx. The shoot axis is weak, the heads relatively loose. Hairs on the stem axis and petioles are usually applied.

Use

Incarnate clover plays a role as animal feed. It can be both in winter and used as a summer cover crop and is suitable both as a forage plant, as well as green manure or for erosion control. Especially as a winter cover crop, it is possible quintals to harvest between 30 and 45 dry weight incarnate clover per acre.

Importantly, this type is best known as part of the Landsberger batch. This mixture can be used for grazing as both are fed as silage.

Even for humans is the incarnate clover edible. The roasted seed is good in salads.

Honey bees use the crimson clover as costume plant. The sugar content of its nectar is 31-38 %, each flower produces 0.03-0.07 mg sugar daily.

Swell

• Amanda Spooner, James Carpenter, Gillian Smith and Kim Spence, 2007: Description in the Western Australian flora. (English )