Sweet clover, shamrock, woodpecker ... This amazing plant occupies a significant part of natural ecosystems, is used in medicine, is famous as a famous honey plant. Are you not familiar with these names? But we are talking about all the famous clover. It is he who possesses all of the listed characteristics. To which family the clover belongs, the features of its structure and species diversity are described in detail in our article.
Bean family
First, let's deal with its systematic position. To which family of plants does clover belong? It’s not at all difficult to guess. This is legumes. Their representatives earned their name due to the presence of the fruit of the same name. Bob is a dry drop-down; seeds are located on the wings. Plants of this family are found on the planet almost everywhere - from the poles of the cold to the hot desert territories.
In addition to the characteristic fruit, the main features of legumes are an irregularly shaped flower. The corolla is formed by five petals, which differ significantly in structure. One of them is the largest, it is also called a sail. Two lateral ones are located freely, like oars, and the lower ones grow together, as if forming the bottom of the boat. In appearance, such a flower is also very similar to a butterfly. This leads to another name for this family - Moth.
Bean variety
Representatives of this family are widely distributed in the natural environment, and are also artificially cultivated by humans. Peas, soybeans, beans are widely used in food in fresh and canned form. Nutritious oil is obtained from peanuts. And clover and licorice are used in the pharmaceutical industry to produce expectorant homeopathic remedies.
Clover as a representative of legumes
To which family the clover belongs, it is easy to determine by the external features of its structure. The fact that this is a representative of the legume family does not raise the slightest doubt. These are one- or perennial plants of a grassy life form, reaching a height of up to 50 cm. The root system of the clover is of the stem type. A characteristic feature of its life, like all legumes, is the presence of nodule bacteria. These organisms are able to assimilate atmospheric nitrogen well, while turning it into compounds that can be absorbed by plants. For this reason, clover is often used in crop rotation to increase the productivity of soils of various types. This plant has characteristic leaves, so it is difficult to mix. They are complex, triple, simple plates, connected at one point of the petiole. Sedentary flowers of irregular shape. They have small petals, so they develop in complex inflorescences, which are called the head. In this form, flowers attract pollinated insects, being a valuable honey plant.
Types of clover
Systematic scientists have identified more than 250 species of this plant. Which family the clover meadow belongs to, it is easy to determine by the characteristic flower and leaves. This is the most common representative of this plant. Its fluffy yellow or pink flowers can be observed in large quantities from May to early autumn. But to which family creeping clover belongs , you can not immediately determine. The thing is that its creeping stems form such dense thickets that the main of them cannot always be found. Due to the color of the inflorescences, this species is also called white clover.
Currently, breeders have bred and artificial varieties of this valuable plant. For example, there is a four leaf clover. This is a plant with lilac leaves and a green border along the blade. Such representatives are most often used for decorative purposes for landscaping.
Plant value
What family the clover belongs to, we found out. But how important it is for a person is still worth determining. Clover has been used for a very long time. Its healing properties are based on a high content of useful elements: magnesium, phosphorus, iron, calcium. The content of vitamins is also high, especially groups A and B. For the preparation of healing broths, stems, leaves and flowers are collected and dried. You can cook them yourself. Such decoctions are used as an expectorant, detoxifying, diuretic and antiseptic medicine.
Clover shoots and flowers are consumed by many animals. And since its biomass is significantly large, it is quite difficult to overestimate the importance of this plant as a feed crop . Clover is also a good honey plant, and the long flowering period and the large areas occupied by this culture only reinforce its importance in this area.
Clover is a typical representative of the legume family, which is characterized by a large species diversity, range of distribution and scope.