Dense, rounded heads of magenta pea flowers on an erect, hairy stem bearing leaves divided into 3 oval leaflets.

1/2" long, turnning brown and papery with age; standard folded over keel and wings; head about 1" long, 1/2-1" wide.

Leaflets each 1/2-2" long, often with lighter, V-shaped pattern near middle.

1-seeded pod.

6-24".

May-September.

Old fields, lawns, and roadsides.

Introduced from Europe and extensively planted here as a hay and pasture crop, this species is one of our most common perennial clovers. It stores nitrogen in its root nodules and is used in crop rotation to improve soil fertility. Alsike Clover (T.hybridum), with white-pink flower heads, lacks the chevron pattern on the leaves.