Red clover is the most widely grown of the true clovers. It is believed native
to the Eastern Mediterranean region. It was widely cultivated in Europe before
the settlement of America by Europeans and was brought here by the early
colonists. It is now most extensively grown from the edge of the Great Plains
east to the Atlantic and west of the Rocky Mountains. In the Southeast it is
grown somewhat as a winter annual.
The plant is an herbaceous perennial with a number of leafy stems rising from
a crown. Leaves and stems are pubescent. Leaves are trifoliate with leaflets
near round to oblong and a half ineb or more across. Stems reach 2 to 3 feet
under favorable conditions and bear at the terminals the rose to magentia
flower heads comprised of 100 or more individual flowers. The plants are highly
nutritious and palatable both as pasture and hay. Acreage in red clover in the
United States is estimated at 8 to 10 million.
