White Clover - introduced (*Trifolium repens)

Family: Fabaceae (Pea family).

Native of Europe, Asia and Africa.

Occurrence: Widespread. It is common in lawns, waste areas and along roadsides.

Identification:

• the leaves have three leaflets
• the leaflets often have white (or other pale-coloured) crescent shaped markings
• the small white pea-flowers are clustered into a round head
• the flowering stalks are longer than the leaf stalks, so that the flowers are held above the leaves.

White Clover is a perennial, and is often sown into pasture land. It can root from the stem nodes, which helps make it an unwelcome garden plant. The name, repens, refers to its creeping habit.

Photos 1: White Clover. Lawn weed. The stems creep along the ground. Barker St, Castlemaine.
2: Leaf, showing the crescentic markings. 3,4: Flowers. Castlemaine x 3.