Which Clover?

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Hi, having a bit of trouble with this clover....anyone offer any assistance?

[aeshna5]

Looks like an atypical Red Clover, Trifolium pratense, with short-stalked pinkish heads + bristle pointed stipules.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

aeshna....are there many variants like this in the red clover genepool?

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Scarlet Pimpernel

aeshna....are there many variants like this in the red clover genepool?

I've not seen one quite like this, but as it's an important fodder crop, there are many agricultural strains which will cross with native stock.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

So would this have a variant name or is it just a basic Red Clover (Trifolium Pratense)????

[AlanS]

I must say, Scarlet Pimpernel, that I am much intrigued by this.

It does seem to be Trifolium pratense - it has the characteristic/diagnostic stipules extended into a bristle-like point, even though the flower-head is almost cylindrical and distinctly stalked, and the calyx seems unusually inflated and with very unequal calyx-teeth (lowest tooth unusually long for T. pratense).

I thought it might be a related alien species, but I have not found any possibility.

There are many named varieties of T. pratense in Britain and in Europe, but I have not found a varietal name that matches your plant.

Certainly there is a lot of un-named and little-described variation even within native British populations, and introduction of foreign forms is always a possibility, even apart from the fodder crops that mostly fit var. sativum. What sort of place was it growing in? And what part of the country?

Definitely an oddity.

Alan