White Clover

A low-growing herbaceous perennial native to Eurasia and ubiquitous throughout the British Isles, introduced to North America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan and now common in grassy areas across those regions. Its three-leaflet leaves form the pattern known as shamrock, and it produces whitish flower heads, often tinged pink or cream, one and a half to two centimeters wide on short stalks, spreading through creeping stems called stolons that root at their nodes and can extend eighteen centimeters in a year. It grows in most grassy areas, including lawns and gardens, preferring clay soils but tolerating a wide range of conditions, and is grown as livestock forage, a companion crop, green manure and cover crop, alongside culinary and medicinal uses.