Flora of Israel: Trifolium arvense

Trifolium arvense, Haresfoot clover, Rabbitfoot clover, Stone clover, Hairy clover, Oldfield clover,

Hebrew: תלתן השדה, Arabic: النفل البري

Scientific name:   Trifolium arvense L.
Common name:   Haresfoot clover, Rabbitfoot clover, Stone clover, Hairy clover, Oldfield clover
Hebrew name:   תלתן השדה
Arabic name:   النفل البري
Plant Family:   Papilionaceae, פרפרניים


Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve

Life form:   Annual
Leaves:   Alternate; compound, trifoliate;smooth; stipule
Flowers:   White, pink, hermaphrodite
Flowering Period:   March, April
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Euro-Siberian – Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve

Derivation of the botanical name:

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

arvensis, arvum, field, cultivated land, plowed land; ensis, country or place of origin or habitat; of cultivated fields.
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.