Red clover, the state flower of Vermont

How to recognize it

Red clover is a herbaceous plant, usually a biennial or short-lived perennial, with erect stems about 6 inches to 2 feet tall. Its leaves have three leaflets, often marked with a pale chevron or mottling on top. The flowers come in rounded, pom-pom-like heads of many small, pea-like blossoms, pink to rosy purple and rarely white, with up to about 125 flowers in a head. It blooms through late spring and summer.

Not a native

Red clover originated in southeastern Europe and Asia Minor and came to North America with English colonists. It is now naturalized in all six New England states, including Vermont, but it is not listed as invasive.

A farmer’s plant

Red clover is a legume that fixes nitrogen, which makes it valuable for hay, pasture and cover crops; UVM Extension cites 75 to 175 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Bumblebees and other bees are its main pollinators.

Where to see it

Red clover grows throughout Vermont: in fields and meadows, along roadsides, in lawns and on waste ground, and on the shores of rivers and lakes. It is also planted for hay and pasture.

The state flower since 1894

Vermont chose the red clover as its state flower in 1894, a nod to its farming and dairy heritage. Its dairy heritage shows in other symbols too: milk is the state beverage.