Knotted Clover

Knotted Clover - Trifolium striatum

Alternative names
Soft Clover
Description

Low to short hairy plant with oval leaflets and oval, unstalked pinkish flower heads, usually single, sometimes in pairs. It may be upright or prostrate. Downy, inflated, red-ribbed calyx in fruit.

Similar Species

There are some similar rare clovers (e.g. T scabrum).  Strawberry Clover ( T fragiferum) and Reversed Clover (T resupinatum) have a calyx that is much more inflated in fruit.

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Procumbent to erect, hairy, annual; with obovate leaves and sessile flowerheads. 

Recording advice

Either obtain confirmation from a County Recorder before submitting a record, or submit detailed images showing key features.  We recommend that you take and retain a specimen; the County Recorder may wish to see this for confirmation. 

Habitat

On well drained soils.

When to see it

Flowers May to July.

Life History

Annual.

UK Status

Widespread but local and often coastal in Britain.

VC55 Status

In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi & Evans, 1988) it was present in 19 tetrads out of 617.

In the VC55 Checklist (Jeeves 2011) it is listed as Native: occasional; may be nearly scarce

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records