Weed Information: Trifolium incarnatum (clover, crimson)
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Trifolium incarnatum (clover, crimson)

Family: Fabaceae

Description

The long cylindrical heads of bright red flowers are the reason that this species is often grown as an ornamental. It often escapes and becomes weedy.

Characteristics

Flower Color
  • Red (or pink)
Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)
  • Head
Number of Petals
  • 5 petals
Petal Separation
  • Completely free to base
  • United > 75% of length
Petal Tip
  • Bilobed
  • Rounded
Flower Symmetry
  • Flowers strongly irregular
Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)
  • 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
  • 1.5 cm (.6 inch)
Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)
  • 4 mm (.16 inch)
  • 5 mm (.20 inch)
  • 6 mm (.24 inch)
  • 7 mm (.28 inch)
Number of Sepals
  • 5 sepals
Sepal Separation
  • United from 25% - 75% length
  • United > 75% of length
Sepal Tip
  • Pointed
Flower Sex
  • Bisexual (perfect)
Number of Styles
  • 1 style
Number of Stamens
  • 10 stamens
Stamens Attached to the Petals
  • Stamens NOT attached to the petals
Stamens Connate (united)
  • Filaments united, diadelphous

Carpel Separation
  • Carpels united (or one)
Number of Carpels
  • 1 carpel
Ovary Position
  • Superior (hypogynous)
Fruit Type
  • Capsule, 1-celled
  • Legume
Fruit Length at Maturity
  • 2 mm (.08 inch)
  • 3 mm (.12 inch)
  • 4 mm (.16 inch)
Fruit Width at Maturity
  • 2 mm (.08 inch)
  • 3 mm (.12 inch)
  • 4 mm (.16 inch)
Burs
  • Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement
  • Alternate
Leaf Type
  • Trifoliolate (3 leaflets)
Stipules
  • Foliaceous > 1 cm (> .40 inch) long
Tendrils
  • Tendrils absent
Venation
  • Pinnate
Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio
  • Petiole < 25% total length
  • Petiole 25% - 75% total length
  • Petiole > 75% total length
Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)
  • 1 - 2 cm (.40 - .80 inch)
  • 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.60 inches)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)
Leaf Width
  • 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.6 inches)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.6 - 4.0 inches)
Leaf or Leaflet Margin
  • Dentate
  • Entire
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base
  • Acute (cuneate)
Leaf or Leaflet Tip
  • Notched (emarginate, retuse)
  • Truncate
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface
  • Pubescent
  • Sericeous or villous (silky)
  • Villous or sericious (silky)
Succulence
  • Not succulent

Milky Juice
  • Juice NOT milky (watery)
Woodiness
  • Herbaceous
Spines or Thorns
  • Spines or Thorns ABSENT
Aromatic (vegetative structures)
  • Not aromatic
Life Cycle
  • Annual
Growth Habit (while flowering)
  • Erect, columnar (narrow)
  • Erect, spherical (bushy)
Plant Height at Maturity
  • 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)
  • 4 - 6 dm (1.3 - 2.0 feet)
  • 6 - 8 dm (2.0 - 2.6 feet)
Wind Dissemination
  • Not wind disseminated
Moisture Regime
  • Mesic
Chlorophyll
  • Present

Stem Cross Section
  • Round
Flowering Stem Leaves
  • Stem uniformly leafy
Main Stem Branches
  • Main stem unbranched
  • Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule
  • Tap Root

US State
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Massachusetts
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • West Virginia
  • Hawaii
  • Maryland
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • California
  • Iowa
  • Idaho
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • North Dakota
  • New Mexico
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • South Dakota
  • Washington
  • Nebraska
Canadian Province or Territory
  • British Columbia
  • Ontario
Other
  • District of Columbia

  • More Turfgrass and Related Weeds: Beyond the Color Atlas, 2011 Clemson University Publishing ISBN# 978-0-9798777-5-9 See Page: 273
  • Weeds of California, 1970, State of California Publications and Documents. See page: 268
  • Weeds of California and other Western States, 2007 (ISBN 13: 978-1-879906-69-3) See Page: 805
  • Weeds of the South, University of Georgia 2009, ISBN#0-8203-3046-9 See page: 208
  • Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
  • Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X
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