Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-085
Subterranean Clover
Trifolium subterraneum
Subterranean Clover ssp. brachycalycinum is a Mediterranean winter-annual forage and nitrogen fixer bred for alkaline cracking clay, fixing 100-200 lb N per acre in east Texas trials and running 16-30 percent crude protein for cattle, sheep, horses and poultry. After flowering it buries its own seed head in the ground (geocarpy), letting stock graze the stand to the dirt without destroying next year's growth - the one clover here that survives hard grazing by design. Older cultivars carry formononetin, which causes infertility in ewes with prolonged exposure, so a low-formononetin seed tag matters wherever sheep are or may be grazed.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 7
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moderate
Vertical layer
Groundcover- Soil pH
- 5.5–8
- Plant type
- Annual
- Mature height
- 5–9 in
- Mature spread
- 6–17 in
- Plant spacing
- Plant
- Root type
- Stolon
- Spread pattern
- Both
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Bambara Groundnut
Vigna subterranea
Bambara groundnut is the drought crop of this group, producing a food-grade seed on ground too poor and too dry for peanut or soybean - it is…
Groundcover · USDA 8–11
Barren Strawberry
Waldsteinia fragarioides
Barren Strawberry is a low woodland groundcover with strawberry-like leaves and yellow spring flowers, but despite the name and the leaf…
Groundcover · USDA 4–7
Beach Strawberry
Fragaria chiloensis
Beach strawberry is a low, evergreen, mat-forming strawberry native to Pacific coast dunes and bluffs from Alaska south through California to…
Groundcover · USDA 4–10
Bilberry
Vaccinium myrtillus
Bilberry is a low, suckering shrub of acid heaths and cool mountain woodland, spreading by rhizome into a knee-high mat. Its small dark…
Groundcover · USDA 3–7
Black Medick
Medicago lupulina
Black Medick is a low, sprawling nitrogen-fixing clover relative that forms a mowable mat through fall, winter and spring before dying back…
Groundcover · USDA 3–9
Carpet Bugle
Ajuga reptans
Carpet Bugle forms a fast, dense, rooting mat that thrives in dry shade - the hardest niche on most properties to fill, since dry ground…
Groundcover · USDA 3–10
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference