Israel wildflowers: Palestine clover

Trifolium palaestinum, Palestine clover,
Hebrew: תלתן ארצישראלי, Arabic: نفل فلسطيني

Scientific name:   Trifolium palaestinum Boiss.
Common name:   Palestine clover
Hebrew name:   תלתן ארצישראלי
Arabic name:   نفل فلسطيني
Plant Family:   Papilionaceae, פרפרניים


Life form:   Therophyte, annual
Leaves:   Alternate, compound, trifoliate, dentate or serrate
Flowers:   White
Flowering Period:   March, April, May
Habitat:   Sand
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

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

palaestinum, from Palestine.
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 Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.