Crimson Clover

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Crimson Clover
Incarnate clover (Trifolium incarnatum)

Incarnate clover ( Trifolium incarnatum )

Systematics
Family : Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily : Butterflies (Faboideae)
Tribe : Trifolieae
Genre : Clover ( trifolium )
Section : Trifolium
Type : Crimson Clover
Scientific name
Trifolium incarnatum
L.

The flesh-Clover ( Trifolium incarnatum ), also blood Klee , Rose clover or Italian Klee called a is plant of the genus clover ( Trifolium ) adapted to subfamily Schmetterlingsblütler (Faboideae) of the plant family of the Leguminosae (Fabaceae) belongs. Its original range is in the western Mediterranean and southern Europe . The crimson clover is grown for fodder production.

description

inflorescence
Incarnate clover ( Trifolium incarnatum ), before blooming
Incarnate clover, found in the Altmühltal

Appearance and leaf

The incarnate clover is an annual (rarely biennial ) herbaceous plant that reaches heights of between 20 and 50 centimeters. The protruding or shaggy hairy stems are erect or ascending and rarely, but only sparsely branched.

The alternate and spirally arranged leaves on the stem are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The petiole is 4.5 to 17.4 inches long. The leaf blade is quite large and three-part for a clover species. The hairy leaflets are 1 to 2 centimeters long and 1 to 1.5 centimeters wide and obovate with a short wedge-shaped base. The edges of the leaflets are slightly toothed, the tip is rounded or slightly notched. The lower ones are long-stalked. The cuticle-like stipules continue in the lower part like a leaf sheath and are fused with the petioles over three-fifths of their length; the free part is green or purple, ovoid, toothed, ribbed and hairy protruding.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from May to August. The terminal, spiked inflorescences are elongated, 2 to 6 inches long and 1 to 1.5 inches wide. As the fruit ripens, the inflorescence elongates and the stem thickens directly below.

The hermaphrodite flower is zygomorphic and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The five tubular fused sepals are about 0.8 to 1 centimeter long and protruding, long hairy. The calyx is ten-nerved with linear, even, long-bristled teeth. The calyx teeth are up to twice as long as the calyx tube. The five red or pink, rarely cream-colored petals are partly fused. The corolla has the typical shape of the butterfly flower and is usually 1 to 1.4 centimeters longer than the calyx. The flag is significantly longer than the shuttle and wing and is long-elliptical with a sharp tip. Of the ten fertile stamens , nine are fused. The only upper carpel contains one to twelve ovules .

When the fruit ripens, the calyx opens, the calyx tube is constricted by a thickened ring and the calyx teeth protrude. A single-seeded, egg-shaped, membrane-like legume with a cartilage-like tip forms, which is 2 to 2.5 mm long and 1 to 1.5 mm wide. The yellowish-green, egg-shaped seed has a diameter of about 2 millimeters. The seed weight is between 310,000 and 330,000 seeds per kilogram.

Chromosome number

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 14.

Occurrence

The incarnate clover is a predominantly western Mediterranean floral element . Its natural range extends from Portugal , Spain and France via Italy to the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey . It was originally cultivated on both sides of the Pyrenees , possibly also in northern Italy . Today the crimson clover is grown in Europe northwards to Great Britain and eastwards to Ukraine as well as in the New World and Australia . Because it is used as a forage plant, there are many neophytic occurrences worldwide .

The crimson clover occurs in Central Europe in areas without pronounced spring frosts. In Central Europe it is occasionally cultivated as silage forage in areas with warm, dry spring , and it can then grow wild; It seems naturalized in Central Europe only in Lower Austria and Burgenland , although it is found again and again in southern Germany , especially in the Upper Rhine area in the Danube Valley and Altmühltal . The cultivation of the crimson clover has declined in Central Europe in the last few decades.

Crimson clover can be found in fields, pastures, meadows and along roadsides. The crimson clover thrives best on loose, somewhat loamy sandy soils , but it also grows on stony loamy soils .

Systematics

The first publication of Trifolium incarnatum was made by Carl Linnaeus . The species Trifolium incarnatum belongs to the subsection Stellata from Section Trifolium in the genus Trifolium .

Of Trifolium incarnatum two were varieties described :

  • Trifolium incarnatum L. var. Incarnatum : The stem axis is stocky, the flower heads dense, with a blood-red, rarely white crown, which is as long as the calyx.
  • Trifolium incarnatum var. Molinerii (Balb. Ex Hornem.) Ces. : The stem axis is weak, the flower heads relatively loose, the hairs on the stem axis and petioles are usually laid out, with a creamy yellow, rarely pink crown, which is significantly longer than the calyx.

ecology

The crimson clover has roots up to 30 centimeters deep.

use

Crimson clover plays a role as a feed . It can also be both a winter and a summer cover crop used and is both as fodder plants, as well as green manure to or protection against erosion suitable. Especially if it is grown as a winter catch crop, between 30 and 45 quintals of dry matter incarnate clover can be harvested per hectare.

This species is particularly important as part of the Landsberg mix . This mixture can be used for grazing or as silage .

Incarnate clover is also edible for humans. The roasted seed goes well in salads.

Honey bees use the crimson clover as a foraging plant . The sugar content of its nectar is 31–38%, and each individual flower produces 0.03–0.07 mg of sugar daily .

Danger

The IUCN lists this species as a least concern due to its wide distribution .

swell

Individual evidence

Most of the information in this article has been taken from the sources given under literature; the following sources are also cited:

  1. ↑ a b c d e 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 .
  2. ↑ John Frame: Trifolium hybridum L. In: Grassland and Pasture / Crop Systems. FAO Crop and Grassland Service, accessed May 23, 2008 .
  3. ↑ 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 595.
  4. ^ 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 .
  5. ↑ Association of the North German Chambers of Agriculture (Ed.): Catch crops for forage use and green manure . 2007 ( PDF ).
  6. ↑ G. Haas: Landsberger mixture: Species-specific competition and their influence . In: 47th Annual Meeting AG Grassland and Forage Production - Society for Crop Science . 2003, p. 87-90 ( PDF - August 28-30).
  7. ^ Trifolium incarnatum at Plants For A Future . Retrieved May 23, 2008.
  8. ↑ Helmut Horn, Cord Lüllmann: The great honey book. Kosmos, Stuttgart 3rd edition 2006, p. 30. ISBN 3-440-10838-4 .
  9. ^ Trifolium incarnatum in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Listed by: J. Osborne, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2014.

literature

  • Michael Zohary, David Heller: The Genus Trifolium . The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem 1984, ISBN 965-208-056-X , pp. 404 f .
  • SI Ali: Trifolium incarnatum . In: Flora of Pakistan . tape 100 . Karachi 1977, p. 290 ( online [accessed May 22, 2008]).

Web links

Commons : Incarnate Clover ( Trifolium incarnatum )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files