Flora of Israel: Mediterranean clover

Trifolium spumosum, Mediterranean clover,
Hebrew: תלתן הקצף, Arabic: النفل الرغوي


Scientific name:		Trifolium spumosum L.
Common name:		Mediterranean clover
Hebrew name:		תלתן הקצף
Arabic name:		النفل الرغوي
Plant Family:		Papilionaceae, פרפרניים


Life form:		Annual
Leaves:		Alternate, compound, trifoliate, dentate or serrate
Flowers:		Pink
Flowering Period:		March, April, May
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:		Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

Derivation of the botanical name:

Trifolium, Latin tri, tres, three; folium, leaf; three-leaved.

spumosum, frothy, spongy.
The Hebrew name: תלתן, taltan, clover, trefoil, from tlat (Aramaic) three; the clover is recalled in the Mishnah Kilayim 2:5, “[a field} of clover among which grew up…”

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

_{Location: Netanya, the Dora rain pool}

_{Location: Sea of Galilee, Mount of Beatitudes}