100 Species #53: Hop clover

[urbpan]

This ground cover of hop clover (Trifolium campestre or similar species) is growing along the wall of the house in the side yard, inside the gravelly line where rain from the roof falls.

We are quite used to seeing clover with white or reddish flowers, but there are also several yellow species. Hop clover is an alien weed, from Eurasia, but something of a welcome one. It forms a nice ground cover, doesn't cause any dermatitis (sorry, have poison ivy on the mind kind of always now), and is edible to livestock. Since it is a legume, it also fixes nitrogen in the soil, making a better growing environment for most other plants.

This species is new to this journal, but I have written about a lookalike relative called black medick.

Comments

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

They are really really similar. I made my id based on flower size--a little bigger in hop clover--and the edges of the leaves. I'm also quite prepared to be told I am wrong.