Trifolium

Also known as trefoil, clover, trefoils, clovers, shamrock, shamrocks

Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus Trifolium (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversity in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics.

OverviewAI-generated

Trifolium is a genus within the family Fabaceae, classified as a taxon and subclass of useful plant. Its common names include clover, نفل, Yonca, and Канюшына. The group is described in sources such as the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary and the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. More than half of the species in the broader group belong to Trifolium, and some species are used for ingestion.

Records indicate the presence of Trifolium in Mexico, the United States, Lebanon, and Turkey. Institutions including FC-UNAM, INECOL, IBUNAM, GH, and UACH hold media related to the genus. A PubMed query for Trifolium yields 3023 results, and 4187 media items are associated with the topic. The subject is referenced by 811 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 31 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, Plants of the World, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Genus

PhylumPlatyhelminthes
ClassTrematoda
OrderPlagiorchiida
FamilyPsilostomidae

Habitatfreshwater

Native toAfghanistan, Alabama, Alaska, Albania, Algeria, Altay, Amur, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona

General: species, of which more than half belong to Trifolium (Fig. 56 Use: ingestion of some Trifolium species

via · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 6,003
With media: 4,187
Family: Fabaceae
Collections: FC-UNAM, INECOL, IBUNAM, GH, UACH, CAS
Recorded in: Mexico, United States, Lebanon, Turkey

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Research

3,023 papers

Clovers (Trifolium spp.).ReviewMethods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2006Mouradov A, Panter S, Labandera M et al.DOI: 10.1385/1-59745-130-4:325
Red clover (Trifolium pratense).ReviewMethods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2006Sullivan ML, Quesenberry KHDOI: 10.1385/1-59745-130-4:369
Investigation of Trifolium repens L. from the Indian Himalayan region as a phyto-therapeutic agent.ReviewNatural product research · 2024Ngangom L, Venugopal D, Pandey NDOI: 10.1080/14786419.2023.2299319
Trifolium species-derived substances and extracts--biological activity and prospects for medicinal applications.ReviewJournal of ethnopharmacology · 2012Kolodziejczyk-Czepas JDOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2012.06.048
Trifolium L.--a review on its phytochemical and pharmacological profile.ReviewPhytotherapy research : PTR · 2009Sabudak T, Guler NDOI: 10.1002/ptr.2709
Trifolium species - the latest findings on chemical profile, ethnomedicinal use and pharmacological properties.ReviewThe Journal of pharmacy and pharmacology · 2016Kolodziejczyk-Czepas JDOI: 10.1111/jphp.12568
Red clover (Trifolium pratense).ReviewJournal of the Society for Integrative Oncology · 2008Yeung KS, Gubili J
Molecular mechanisms underlying the potential neuroprotective effects of Trifolium pratense and its phytoestrogen-isoflavones in neurodegenerative disorders.ReviewPhytotherapy research : PTR · 2023Al-Shami AS, Essawy AE, Elkader HAEADOI: 10.1002/ptr.7870

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Wikidata facts

Instance of: taxon
Subclass of: useful plant
Parent taxon: Trifolieae
Image: 20160822Trifolium repens2.jpg

Show 8 more facts

Commons category: Trifolium
taxon name: Trifolium
taxon rank: genus
GRIN URL: npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomygenus.aspx?id=12357
topic's main category: Category:Trifolium
Commons gallery: Trifolium
taxon common name: detelja
P8168: clemastine

Sources (5)

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Encyclopedic overview

9 sections

Contents

Cultivation history
Cultivation
Uses
Symbolism
Phylogeny
Species
See also
References
External links

They are small annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial herbaceous plants, typically growing up to tall. The leaves are trifoliate (rarely, they have more or fewer than three leaflets; the more (or fewer) leaflets the leaf has, the rarer it is; see four-leaf clover), with stipules adnate to the leaf-stalk, and heads or dense spikes of small red, purple, white, or yellow flowers; the small, few-seeded pods are enclosed in the calyx. Other closely related genera often called clovers include Melilotus (sweet clover) and Medicago (alfalfa or Calvary clover).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Trifolium” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.