Definition from clover is any of various related plants (as of the genera Melilotus, Lespedeza, or Medicago) of the legume family. Knowing many types of clover and how we should do about them will help us for grasping more useful knowledge about clover. But besides that definition, do you know that clovers are represented luck, love, and hope?
In western countries, clovers also stand for health and abundance depending on how many numbers of leaves when you found the clovers. In this case, most of the countries in the world take the four-leaf as a good sign to bring you something miracle after you found it.
Common Types of Leaf Clovers
Clovers have a lot of types. There are three-leaf, four-leaf, and five-leaf clover. Also in some cases, you can found more than this amount of leaf but it is pretty rare and hard to find.
The lucky charm is when you find a four-leaf clover. This type of clover is very rare, which is 1: 100.000 in the world. That is why people believe that once you found this amount of leaf on it, you will get a high chance to get luck, love, or even hope.
How Many Types of Clovers
There are 300 species types of clovers in the world. Every each of them has its beauty and also their habitats to live in. But you can see that clover has a sign that very unique. Yes, they have 3-leaf clover, four-leaf clover even 5-leaf clover. The common one is 3-leaf, but if you found the one with 5-leaf clover, it felt likes that you have your luck ahead.
It’s hard to tell how many types of cover in this world. Because some of the rare clovers yet to be found. In the wild there almost 50-ish that common in the wild. But it’s good to know the common one first. If you want to locate them, most of them grew under the oak trees.
How to Identify Different Types of Clover
Differentiate Types of Clover From Leaves
Have you seen the clovers? I believe their leaf is somewhat that make you notice. You can count the leaf and observe that many form of shape of it. Some of them is in oval shape, seed-shape, or just like v-shape.
Differentiate Types of Clover From Flower
Their flowers are for us even more unique. Comes with a dozen of interesting color and shape. Some of them have 2-5 colors with a gradient look. That what makes it attractive to some bees. You can spot them immediately if bees hang on them.
Types of Clover
Egyptian Clover ( Trifolium alexandrinum)
Trifolium Alexandrinum known as Egyptian Clover since they found easily in Egypt and Indian
Suckling Clover ( Lesser Trefoil )
This clover is part of the pea and clover family Fabaceae. Suckling Clover has a pretty light yellow color for their flowers. People know this clover as traditional Irish Shamrock. Suckling Clover or known as Lesser Trefoil grown in the Winter season and they self-seeding since they produce high-quality feeds. Suckling clover also has a fixed amount of nitrogen levels so they can survive at any level of the season.
Subterranean Clover (Trifolium Subterraneum)
Subterranean clover or use to known as subclover easily to be found in Europe countries. It has a hairy stems with 1-3 m long and 10-15 cm height. In average, subclover or trifolium subterraneum has 6-8 flowers and white colour. They can survive in dryland.
White Clover (Trifolium Repens)
Trifolium Repens, the white clover came from Europe as the most widely cultivated type of clover. For Trifolium Repens, they germinate during spring or when the weather has a moisture temperature.
In India, Trifolium repens is used for medicine related to intestinal helminthic worms and an experimental for some medical study. Trifolium Repens it easily to be found in Europe in a large group.
Red Clover ( Trifolium Pratense )
The red clover is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwest Africa, but it has been naturalized in other continents, like North and South America. Trifolium Pratense enjoys moisture-retaining soils, alkaline soils, and high levels of calcium.
Trifolium Pratense is important as a source of economic stability in Chile, which has made the need for pollinators. Also, they love moist spring as their place to grow.
Crimson Clover (Trifolium Incarnatum)
Trifolium Incarnatum is a species of Italian clover that right now can be found all over the world especially in Japan and the United States of America. The crimson clover has upright stems and larger seeds if we compare it with another type of clover. It can reach 20 – 50 cm (8-20”) tall.
Crimson Clover usually can be found in spring and summer. It has a high shade tolerance for these two seasons.
Alsike Clover (Trifolium Hybridum)
The clover is found most frequently in the farming areas of northern Canada and it can have 15 – 30 inches in height with a small half-inch diameter pink flower. Alsike clover usually grows late and a lot of people thought it was red clover and not Trifolium hybrid. They have beautiful pink – whitish flower for their colour and have big leaf size.
Zigzag Clover (Trifolium Medium)
Zigzag clover easily to be found in Europe and Asia. Trifolium Medium can grow on somewhere elses crop. For trifolium medium, you can find it everywhere in Finland. It has pink-like deep pink petals with a whitish base. Looks so beautiful and has 1.5 feet tall for their less hairy stem.
Coast Clover / Cows Clover (Trifolium Wormskioldii)
It has a unique name . Cows clover grows in northern as a native perennial herb. They are growing so fast especially on spring season. Trifolium Wormskioldii has red and striking colour of flowers. It tends to grow in moist place. The habitats of this coast clover such as oak woodlands, moist grasslands and also forests.
Mountain Clover (Trifolium Montanum)
For anyone who loves to go to mountain, this type of clover is the easier one to find, especially on June – July. It has 2ft for their height with their yellowish-white flowers. Mountain clover is a strong type one. They can grow at riverbanks, dry meadows and also rocky outcrops.
Alphine Clover (Trifolium Alpinum)
Their name inspired by Alps. It has very large taproot and short stems. They have wide pink-purple-whitish colour for their flowers and also 5 cm long for their leaflets. They normally grows in acidic soils sine they helps to stabilize soil to reduce a high erosion.
Narrowleft crimson clover (Trifolium angustifolium)
To find this narrowleft crimson clover or as known biologically as trifolium angustifolium, most of people need to go to Europe, Asia and North Africa. Trifolium angustifolium also known as an annual herb. They have a narrow leaflets are linear to lance-shaped and measure up to more than 5 centimeters.
Narrowleft crimson clover has very unique for their flowers because they have cylindrical shape and also have pale pink and greenish on it. The other unique thing from this narrowleft crimson clover is they will turns to brown colour once their habitats are dry. Most of the time, they are easily to found at pasturelands.
How to Get Clover Seeds
Harvesting clover seed is simple as well as begins with simply awaiting the clover to flower. As soon as the flowers have dried out, seeds will create soon after that. You’ll discover that clover steps from the blossom to seed procedure more quickly throughout periods of cozy, bright weather. Once the blossoms have dried out, you prepare to start gathering clover seeds.
This normally takes place 10 to 15 days after blossoms appear. To do this, pinch the stem just beneath the blossom and afterward use your hand to eliminate the clover seed sheath from the blossom stem. Store your clover seed sheaths in a completely dry, airtight container until it’s time to plant. Do not attempt to harvest clover seeds till you are sure that they are dry.
They are not viable up until they have actually dried out on the plant and will simply rot when you get them into storage space. That claimed, you ought to prevent waiting too long to harvest, as wind, as well as rainfall, can cause them to fall onto the ground. Birds and various other opportunistic animals could consume them before you get the chance to collect them also. That most likely simple way how to get clover seeds.
What Types of Clover are Edible ?
Clover might resemble a usual grass weed, however, clover is edible! Include its raw fallen leaves to salads, sauté and also contribute to dishes for a splash of environment-friendly, eat the red or white flowers raw or prepared, or dry the blossoms and also make use of for tea. Consuming clover can assist the lymphatic system in our bodies, tidying up all its waterways and also boosting our blood. It is an essential food for honeybees and bumblebees. But sometimes you might want to get rid of the clover from your lawn, we have a comprehensive guide on there.
The popular one is a 3-leaf clover for making tea or eat. But we have to make sure to boil it first or dried up. But they are sometimes meant to be for survival purposes.
