1245 Trifolium pratense L.

This polymorphic species occurs in several varieties (cf. Fl. Eur. 2/1968, p. 168). It was originally restricted to Europe and adjacent parts of Africa and Asia but then widely distributed as a forage crop, being partly naturalized in S. Africa, E. Asia, N. and S. America, S. Australia and New Zealand. Nowadays the species s. lat. belongs to the circumpolar plants (Hultén, Circumpol. Il, p. 393 f. and map 262).