Trefoil

Browse All Trefoil Recipes

About Trefoil
In botany, trefoil is the name for several plants that have trifoliate leaves. The most common of the trefoils is clover. Two old plants are represented by bird’s-foot trefoil or lotus corniculatus, and the prairie trefoil or lotus americanus. The Latin name for trefoil is trifolium, meaning three-leaved plant, while the French name is trèfle. This plant can reach 1 ½ feet in height and its leaves occur in clusters of 3. Individual leaflets are ovate in outline, approximately 1 to 3 ½ inches long, roughly hairy above and densely velvet hairy below. The flowers occur in elongated inflorescences where each flower arises from a central stalk; individual flowers occur on flower stalks that measure from 2 ½ to 8 mm in length. Flowers are red to purplish in colour, having a length from 5 to 9 mm. As far as the trefoil fruit is concerned, this is a loment of 2 to 6 segments that are each triangular in outline. Generally, the trefoil is recognised due to its trifoliate leaves, stipules, and small purple or pink flowers.