Trifolium subterraneumL.

Sub CloverSubterranean Cloversubterranean clover

WFO wfo-0000213094 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Trifolium subterraneum, photographed by humon
fig. a humon, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-14 / obs. 197699563
Trifolium subterraneum, photographed by Christian Berg
fig. b Christian Berg, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 198318063
Trifolium subterraneum, photographed by Chuck Wilson
fig. c Chuck Wilson, CC0 1.0 / obs. 195427623
Trifolium subterraneum, photographed by giantcicada
fig. d giantcicada, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195958307
Trifolium subterraneum, photographed by Jon Sullivan
fig. e Jon Sullivan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195879030
Trifolium subterraneum, photographed by giantcicada
fig. f giantcicada, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 194573642
Trifolium subterraneum, photographed by Braden J. Judson
fig. g Braden J. Judson, CC0 1.0 / obs. 196315025
Trifolium subterraneum, photographed by Patrick Hacker
fig. h Patrick Hacker, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195143827

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 37 botanical countries

Regions where Trifolium subterraneum is native: Algeria, Azores, Canary Is., Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Tunisia, East Aegean Is., Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Albania, Baleares, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corse, France, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaLibyaMoroccoTunisiaEast Aegean Is.IranIraqLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusPalestineTranscaucasusTürkiyeAlbaniaBelgiumBulgariaCorseFranceGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNW. Balkan Pen.PortugalRomaniaSiciliaSpainTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine AzoresCanary Is.MadeiraBalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Trifolium subterraneum, 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. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Baleares BAL
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Corse COR
France FRA
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
East Aegean Is. EAI ASIA-TEMPERATE
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Azores AZO
Canary Is. CNY
Libya LBY
Madeira MDR
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

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 21 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.

  • Calycomorphum subterraneum (L.) C.Presl
  • Trifolium brachycalycinum (Katzn. & F.H.W.Morley) F.H.W.Morley
  • Trifolium subterraneum subsp. brachycalycinum Katzn. & F.H.W.Morley
  • Trifolium subterraneum subsp. longipes (H.Gay) Cout.
  • Trifolium subterraneum subsp. yanninicum Katzn. & F.H.W.Morley
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. brachycladum Gibelli & Belli
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. flagelliforme Guss.
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. genuinum Rouy
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. graecum Katzn. & F.H.W.Morley
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. longipes H.Gay
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. longipes F.Gay
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. majusculum Adamović
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. oxaloides (Bunge ex Nyman) Rouy
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. subterraneum
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. telavivense Eig
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. typicum Asch. & Graebn.
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. vulgare Guss.
  • Trifolium subterraneum var. yanninicum (Katzn. & F.H.W.Morley) Zohary
  • Trifolium yannicum (Katzn. & F.H.W.Morley) F.H.W.Morley
  • Trifolium yanninicum (Katzn. & Morley) Katzn.
  • Triphylloides comosa 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.