White Clover, Trifolium repens. Photo by Karen McCall.
Join our Executive Director, Karen McCall, as she journeys outside amid the spring rains to bring us another installment in our Plant Magic series. In this installment, we explore some classic beauties and learn how to incorporate them into our diet and yard!
Today, I bring you the white clover, Trifolium repens, that often grows in our yards. This low-growing plant usually has a leaf with three leaflets and looks like some creature took a white pen and scribbled lines forming an arrow across the middle of each leaflet pointing towards its tip. The flowers are white, sometimes with a hint of pink. They grow in patches through spreading roots across the ground and through seeds created by pollination from bees and butterflies.
Hopefully, many of you have experienced the magic of searching for and finding a four- or more-leafed clover (again, the number refers to the leaflet)! This discovery brings feelings of success and joy, and you cannot help but shout out “I found a four-leafed clover!” and smile. Legend has it that this find will bring you good luck. If nothing else, it will brighten your day and mood - what great medicine!
While white clover is often perceived as a nuisance in grass, it plays a crucial role in our ecosystem. It enriches nitrogen-poor soil by extracting nitrogen from the air and releasing it into the ground to fertilize surrounding plants. White clovers are also an excellent nectar source for bees and butterflies. Voles, rabbits, groundhogs, and squirrels eat them, among others, and it serves as the host plant for caterpillars of the painted lady and clouded sulphur butterflies.
So next time you see them pop up in your yard, I hope you look at them in a new light and stop to revel in their magic as you search for the elusive four-leafed one!
If you’re interested in welcoming native plants into your garden, consider supporting both your local ecosystem and Piedmont Wildlife Center by buying plants from Garden for Wildlife by National Wildlife Federation! 15% of each purchase you make through our referral link will be donated directly to Piedmont Wildlife Center to help us connect more people with nature.
Disclaimer: White Clover is NOT a native plant. It is a naturalized exotic that is non-invasive.
White Clover, Trifolium repens. Photo by Karen McCall.
