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Fabaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Trifolium incarnatum

Trifolium incarnatum

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual
GrowthMedium

Trifolium incarnatum is a plant of the temperate zone, also cultivated in tropical regions It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 13 - 22°c, but can tolerate 4 - 28°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 700 - 1,000mm, but tolerates 300 - 1,500mm[1]. Succeeds in a moist, well-drained circum-neutral soil in full sun, tolerating light shade[2, 1]. Succeeds in poor soils. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7, tolerating 4.8 - 8.3[1]. The ssp. Molinerli is the form of this species that is native to Britain, whilst ssp. Incarnatum is naturalized in S. Britain and is the form grown as a green manure crop[3]. It grows well in an apple orchard, the trees will produce tastier fruit that stores better[4]. It should not be grown with camellias or gooseberries because it harbours a mite that can cause fruit drop in the gooseberries and premature budding in the camellias[4]. Grown as an winter-annual in the Colf coast region in the U.S. Autumn sown in Brazil it provides groundcover in 75-95 days, flowers after 110-150 days, and mature in 135-170 days[1]. Development of flower stems is initiated when daylength is over 12 hours[1]. Dry matter yields may be between 2-4 t/ha[1]. Fairly resistant to 'clover rot'[5]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[2]. Buttercups growing nearby depress the growth of the nitrogen bacteria by means of a root exudate[4]. When removing plant remains at the end of the growing season, it is best to only remove the aerial parts of the plant, leaving the roots in the ground to decay and release their nitrogen.

Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 12 hours in warm water and then sow in spring to early summer in situ. The seed can also be sown in early autumn as a winter green manure. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Trifolium+incarnatum>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  4. [4]A - Z of Companion Planting. — Allardice.P. · Cassell Publishers Ltd. · 1993 · ISBN 0-304-34324-2 ↩︎A well produced and very readable book.
  5. [5]Green Manures. — Woodward. L. Burge. P. · Elm Farm Research Centre. · 1982 · ISBN - ↩︎Green manure crops for temperate areas. Quite a lot of information on a number of species.
  6. [6]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  7. [7]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  8. [8]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  9. [9]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  10. [10]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  11. [11]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.