I have a lot of clover on my place, some which I have sown and some which comes up on it's own. We have a high limestone soil in the outer bluegrass region of Kentucky. Supposedly the soil here is high in lime, (and calcium) as well as phosphorus and magnesium. When I see an odd plant of a known variety though, I usually suspect a mineral deficiency or a disease. I have a strange clover. I know for certain that the plant is Red Clover, but it isn't red like the plants around it. The blooms are almost white. I say almost, because some of the blooms are white but a few have a tinge of a very pale purple. I am also certain that this plant is not Alsike as I have grown Alsike on other fields and I'm very familiar with what it looks like. My question is, what would make a Red Clover plant have white blooms? Is albinism possible in plants? Or is there a disease or mineral deficiency that would cause the lack of color? I have found one other plant like it growing a few feet from the first, but the others are all as they should be. The plant in question appears healthy in all respects and the color of the blooms is the only thing that makes it stand out. I plan to try to save some of the seed heads once they mature and see if this plant breeds true or if it goes back to normal color in a different spot on the place. It's just an oddity and I wondered if anyone else had seen such a thing. If I can, I'll try to get a photo of it on here.
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- latest reply 7 years ago
7 years ago
Billy Foster says 2016-06-22 07:13:33 (CST)
I have seen varying intensities of red in our red clover but don't remember every seeing it white. Sure it isn't Ladino clover?
Billy
7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum
JerryHicks says 2016-06-23 05:23:42 (CST)
I'm fairly certain it is a Red Clover, but I've never seen it with a bloom like this. So far I've only seen the two plants growing about 20 feet apart but on both, all the blooms are white or near white. To me, alsike, white clover, and ladino all have nearly the same type bloom. This clover has a bloom exactly like all the other red clovers except it's white or a very very pale shade of purple. I'll do my best to get photos before the tops ripen.
7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum
Mike Rock says 2016-07-05 13:15:57 (CST)
Jerry, I was mowing out apple tree area on Saturday. Lots of red clover there. I just came around a corner and saw three snow white blossoms. Just had time to register that they were all on one plant, and that there were no red blossoms on that plant.......then mowed the darned things down. I got stopped and looked at the remains of the blossoms. They were indeed snow white and were the same clover plant type, leaves and stems the same as the red clover. I had the deck set really high as this was only the second mowing for that area, so they weren't mulched to nothingness.
I'll keep an eye out for more blossoms in that area when they regrow.
Wish I'd been quicker on the brakes!
7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum
Mike Rock says 2016-07-05 22:56:46 (CST)
Jerry,
I posted a response to this earlier today but it hasn't appeared as of now.
I was mowing our apple area and saw a red clover plant with three snow white blossoms. I didn't get stopped in time but was thinking of your clover as I mowed this stuff down....drat!
It is the real deal, red clover with white blossoms. I was mowing high off the ground so the flowers weren't mulched, just beat up badly. Same plant as its neighbours, same leaves, stem, etc. Just white blossoms.
You weren't dreaming! I'll check the regrowth and post back.
God bless.
7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum
JerryHicks says 2016-07-06 07:19:13 (CST)
That is exactly what I have! It is red clover but the blossoms are white, some have a very slight purple/lilac cast to them, but all on the same plant. So far have only found two plants like this and they are about thirty or so feet apart. I would really like to know what causes this!
7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum
JerryHicks says 2016-07-07 05:47:57 (CST)
Okay. Depending on which website you want to believe, it seems this clover is indeed an Albino. Some plants are albinos with completely white foliage and others express albinism with white blossoms. Then there is a coloring called Chimera in which it has normal coloring mixed with white. All of these are seen in Redwoods and it's worth looking up. Do a search for albino redwoods. They don't look real. So, I'm satisfied that at least one mystery in my life is solved!
7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum
JHItch says 2016-12-14 16:19:20 (CST)
When my family and I lived in Chardon, Ohio, about 6 years ago. We had clover that would bloom red and about halfway through the life of the blossom it would change colors so that right before it died it would be Snow White. I don't know what kind of clover it was(I was about 10 at the time) I wish that I knew. It tasted good(I know I am odd) and our sheep and goats loved it. We had some purple clover as well,but it didn't change colors that I remember.
Josie
7 years ago via Forums | Front Porch Forum
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