Trifolium alpestreL.

owl-head clover

WFO wfo-0000213941 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Trifolium alpestre, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. a Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-11 / obs. 205246955
Trifolium alpestre, photographed by ll r Ирина
fig. b ll r Ирина, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205743633
Trifolium alpestre, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. c Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203311452
Trifolium alpestre, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. d Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203323012
Trifolium alpestre, photographed by Zoltán Stekkelpak
fig. e Zoltán Stekkelpak, CC0 1.0 / obs. 202668757
Trifolium alpestre, photographed by Thomas
fig. f Thomas, CC0 1.0 / obs. 202469730
Trifolium alpestre, photographed by xulescu_g
fig. g xulescu_g, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 201533087
Trifolium alpestre, photographed by Pavel Kacl
fig. h Pavel Kacl, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201308125

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 28 botanical countries

Regions where Trifolium alpestre is native: Iran, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Krym, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine IranNorth CaucasusTranscaucasusTürkiyeAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyKrymNorthwest European RussiaNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwitzerlandUkraine
Native distribution of Trifolium alpestre, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Germany GER
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Northwest European Russia RUW
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Iran IRN ASIA-TEMPERATE
North Caucasus NCS
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 22 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Trifolium alpestre f. bicefala Kožuharov
  • Trifolium alpestre f. heterofoliolata Kožuharov
  • Trifolium alpestre f. lanigerum (Ser.) Bolzon
  • Trifolium alpestre f. monostachyum (Ser.) Cincović
  • Trifolium alpestre subf. monostachyum Ser.
  • Trifolium alpestre subsp. lanigerum (Ser.) Stoj. & Stef.
  • Trifolium alpestre var. alpestre
  • Trifolium alpestre var. davidovii Kožuharov
  • Trifolium alpestre var. distachyum Ser.
  • Trifolium alpestre var. durmitorum Rohlena
  • Trifolium alpestre var. glabratum C.Klinggr.
  • Trifolium alpestre var. lanigerum Ser.
  • Trifolium alpestre var. parvifolium Kožuharov
  • Trifolium alpestre var. rubellum Ser.
  • Trifolium alpestre var. sericeum Hausskn.
  • Trifolium alpestre var. trinervia Kožuharov
  • Trifolium alpestre var. villosum Čelak.
  • Trifolium alpinum Georgi
  • Trifolium incarnatum Stephan
  • Trifolium purpureum-majus Gilib.
  • Trifolium rubens Desc.
  • Triphylloides nervosa Moench

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.