Rabbitfoot clover (Trifolium arvense)

Synonyms: Trifolium arvense L. var. arvense, Trifolium arvense L. var. perpusillum

Common Names: Hare's foot clover, oldfield clover, stone clover

Description: It is capable of nitrogen fixation, which makes it highly valued on low fertile soil in agriculture. Used as fodder for sheep and goats.

Habit: Erect; annual; 4-16 in tall forb with many branches.

Leaves: 3-parted with narrowly-oblong leaflets, stalks 1/3 in long.

Stems: Softly hairy becoming smooth with age; 4-16 in in height.

Flowers: Whitish to pink in color, 5-parted, 1/4 in long, stalkless, calyx is 2-lipped, inflorescence a 1 in dense, fuzzy, oval to cylindrical, stalked head.

Fruit and seeds: Tiny brown seed with barbed spines.

Habitat: Native to Europe. Found in fields, wastelands, roadsides, sand dunes, and opportunistically in vineyards and orchards when they are not irrigated.

Reproduction: By seed.

Monitoring and rapid response: Effectively controlled using any of several readily available general use herbicides.

Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from the USDA PLANTS Database.

Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org).Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).

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