Egyptian clover
| Egyptian clover | ||||||||||||
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Egyptian clover ( Trifolium alexandrinum ) |
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| Trifolium alexandrinum | ||||||||||||
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The Egyptian clover ( Trifolium alexandrinum ), and Alexandrians Clover called, is a flowering plant in the subfamily of the Pea family (Faboideae) within the family of legumes (Fabaceae). It belongs to the Alexandrina subsection from the Trifolium section in the genus Klee ( Trifolium ). This useful plant has been cultivated in Egypt for centuries and has been grown in Central Europe as a red clover substitute since around 1950 .
description
There is a grassy growing, annual herbaceous plant with prostrate, rooting at the nodes, such as spurs acting stems , reaches stature heights of about 1 meter and reminds the habit to the alfalfa . The alternate leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The leaf stalk is relatively long. The three-pinnate leaf blades consist of obovate, finely toothed leaflets.
The flowering period extends from May to September. The long-stalked, terminal inflorescences have the shape of spherical heads. The hermaphrodite flowers have a faint honey scent. The calyx tube is ten-nerved. The yellowish-white crown has the typical shape of the butterfly flower and is 7 to 12 mm long. The legume is enclosed by the calyx and the dried up crown.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 16.
Occurrence and use
The Egyptian clover is only known from culture, it may come from the eastern Mediterranean , North Africa or the Middle East, where it also occurs spontaneously. Today it is spread almost all over the world.
It has been cultivated in Egypt for thousands of years, and it is of great economic importance there as a forage crop and for green manuring in the cotton fields.
The preferred locations in Central Europe are on hay meadows, lawns , as well as on roadsides and debris areas. Uses, for example, as a cover crop on agricultural land or wild fields as Äsungspflanze for wildlife.
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Individual evidence
- ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 597.
- ↑ a b Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (ed.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 3: Special part (Spermatophyta, subclass Rosidae): Droseraceae to Fabaceae. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8001-3314-8 .
Web links
- Egyptian clover. In: FloraWeb.de.
- Egyptian clover . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
- Trifolium alexandrinum L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved November 18, 2015.
- Profile and distribution map for Bavaria . In: Botanical Information Hub of Bavaria .
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
- Extensive information incl. Description of the type. (Engl.)
- The alexandrine clover as a useful plant. (PDF; 212 KB)