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Zigzag Clover

Zigzag Clover

Trifolium medium

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How common: Very common

Zigzag Clover is a perennial clover with deep red, round flower heads. It often forms spreading patches and has bending, slightly zigzag stems. You can see it in meadows, roadsides and light woods across much of Europe.

Did you know?

  • Its name comes from the way the stems often bend and look zigzag.
  • After flowering, the small pods stay hidden inside the dried flower base.

About the species

Identification

Perennial clover forming patches with creeping underground stems. 20–45 cm tall. Stems often bend and give a zigzag look. Leaves in threes; leaflets 2–6 cm, narrow-oval to oval, dark green on top without the pale V-mark, paler beneath, edges mostly smooth. At the base of each leaf are narrow, pointed, leaf-like flaps that run along the leaf stalk. Flower heads single, round and on a long stalk, 2–4 cm across, deep purplish red. After flowering, small pods with 1–4 seeds stay hidden inside the dried flower base. Look-alike Red Clover has pale V-shaped marks on the leaves and usually broader leaflets. Flowers in Finland from June to August.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow

Flowering

Jun–Aug

About the habitat

Grows in meadows, road verges, forest edges and light or leafy woods, also on dry, sandy or gravelly slopes. It favors sunny to half-shaded places with moderately dry to fresh soils. Common native in southern Finland; farther north it is scattered as an introduced plant, up to southern Lapland.

Sources

Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trifolium medium kz09.jpg

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Kulttuuriympäristöt: niityt, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39054

Text: Pinkka: Kasvitieteen retkeily Ahvenanmaalle - Nåtön biologinen asema, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39054

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mets%C3%A4apila

See also