Strawberry clover

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Strawberry clover
Strawberry clover (Trifolium fragiferum)

Strawberry clover ( Trifolium fragiferum )

Systematics
Order : Fabales (Fabales)
Family : Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily : Butterflies (Faboideae)
Genre : Clover ( trifolium )
Section : Vesicaria
Type : Strawberry clover
Scientific name
Trifolium fragiferum
L.

The strawberry clover ( Trifolium fragiferum ), also raspberry Klee called, is a species of the genus clover ( Trifolium ) in the subfamily Schmetterlingsblütler (Faboideae) within the family of the Leguminosae (Fabaceae or Leguminosae). It is widespread in Eurasia and North Africa.

description

Illustration from Flora Batava , Volume 5
Close-up of an infructescence, to the left, to the right of an inflorescence
The inflorescence (here the front flowers removed) is a bractose umbel: the flowers sit in the axilla of small bracts.
Flower, the calyx is hairy.
Close up of an infructescence
At the time of fruiting, the upper half of the calyx is noticeably inflated.

Vegetative characteristics

The strawberry clover is a perennial herbaceous plant . The prostrate, creeping, branched stem is 20 to 30 centimeters long. The alternate and spirally arranged leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The petiole is 1.7 to 16.3 inches long. The leaf blade is typically pinnate in three parts. The leaflets are egg-shaped with a length of 5 to 30 millimeters and a width of 4.5 to 18 millimeters, have a finely sawn edge and appear bluish-green. The stipules are fused with the petiole.

Generative characteristics

The head-shaped inflorescences contain 10 to 30 flowers and have a diameter of about 10 millimeters when in bloom, at the fruiting time up to 20, rarely up to 25 millimeters.

The flowering period extends from June to September. The flower stalk is 0 to 1 millimeter long. The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and five-fold with a double flower envelope . In contrast to the Persian clover ( Trifolium resupinatum ), the flowers are not turned (the “flag” points upwards, the shuttle downwards). The calyx is indistinctly 20-annoying, two-lipped and 3.5 to 4 millimeters long. The pink corolla is 4.5 to 8 millimeters long and has the typical shape of the butterfly flower .

The legume is 1.5 to 2 millimeters long and 0.8 to 1 millimeter wide. At the time of fruiting, the very hairy upper lip of the calyx is blistered, giving the fruit clusters a very distinctive appearance that is reminiscent of a berry fruit. This is where the German common name comes from.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 16.

ecology

The strawberry clover is a mesomorphic hemicryptophyte .

Insect pollination takes place.

The diaspores spread by the wind or by Velcro spreading.

Occurrence

The strawberry clover is a European-West Asian floral element . Their area extends over almost all of Europe, with the exception of the northern parts of Scotland and Scandinavia; it continues in Southwest Asia including Kazakhstan , Afghanistan , Pakistan , Iran ; also in North Africa ; an isolated occurrence is given from Ethiopia. In Germany, the strawberry clover is mainly found on the North and Baltic Sea coasts and along the major rivers.

Trifolium fragiferum is described as a Mediterranean to sub-Mediterranean, i.e. more southern European floral element, which has its focus in the temperate-continental area of ​​Europe, but was also transported to other regions through grassland management. While in southern Europe and northwest Africa the subspecies Trifolium fragiferum subsp. bonannii is represented, the nominate form Trifolium fragiferum subsp. grows in northern Central Europe (also exclusively in Germany) and on the coasts of southern Scandinavia . fragiferum . The strawberry clover occurs mainly in lower altitudes; in the low mountain range only within Keuper areas (on the Swabian Alb probably up to 880 m above sea level). While the distribution on the coasts of Central Europe is very constant, the finds in the interior are scattered and irregular, depending on the salt-tolerant and other ecological behavior of the plant. A certain accumulation of evidence can be observed within Germany in the northeast German lowlands (for example in Wendland in Lower Saxony , from where the photos are taken). As a river valley plant, there are also focal points along the Elbe , the Rhine and other large rivers. In Central Europe it is a character species of Juncetum compressi from the Agropyro-Rumicion association, but also occurs in societies of the Armerion maritimae association.

Trifolium fragiferum penetrated as a neophyte in different regions of the world , for example in the USA (especially in the western states), New Zealand and South Australia .

It is rarely found in Central Europe , but there it often forms loose populations at its locations. The strawberry clover is a characteristic plant species of the coastal salt marshes in Germany , for example on the North Sea - there it occurs in beach and carnation communities. There are also regular occurrences on the Baltic Sea coast . Inland, in particular, inland salt areas (salty groundwater outflows, areas in the vicinity of potash mines and the like) are settled, which are also clay-soil and often calcareous. Also to be mentioned are ridge grass societies, step and flood lawns, as well as ditch and path edges with corresponding site conditions.

Strawberry clover is listed nationwide in Germany's 1996 Red List of Endangered Plant Species as not endangered, but it is in various German federal states.

The strawberry clover thrives best on nutrient-rich, sandy or clayey soils that should be calcareous and may contain saline. It is somewhat sensitive to frost, which is why it occurs in Central Europe mainly on the coasts of the North Sea and Baltic Sea and in the inland in a lower position, i.e. H. in the river valleys. The strawberry clover is insensitive to stepping, i. H. severed stems grow back into independent plants at the rooting nodes.

Systematics

The first publication of Trifolium fragiferum was in 1753 by Carl von Linné .

Of Trifolium fragiferum there are about two subspecies:

  • Trifolium fragiferum L. subsp. fragiferum
  • Trifolium fragiferum subsp. bonannii (C.Presl) Soják (Syn .: Trifolium bonannii C.Presl, Trifolium neglectum CAMey.)

swell

literature

  • Eckhard Garve: Atlas of the endangered fern and flowering plants in Lower Saxony and Bremen. - Nature conservation landscape maintenance Lower Saxony 30., 1994, ISBN 3-922321-68-2 .
  • Henning Haeupler, Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany . Ed .: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (=  The fern and flowering plants of Germany . Volume 2 ). Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4 .
  • Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora . With the collaboration of Theo Müller. 6th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1990, ISBN 3-8001-3454-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Trifolium fragiferum L., strawberry-clover. In: FloraWeb.de.
  2. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 594.
  3. ^ 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 .
  4. ↑ a b Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe . 2nd Edition. tape 2 : Yew family to butterfly family . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08048-X .
  5. ↑ Data from ILDIS World Database of Legumes , 2010: Trifolium fragiferum In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.

Web links

Commons : Strawberry Clover ( Trifolium fragiferum )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files