Trifolium subterraneum

<h2 id="discovery">Discovery</h2>
While subterranean clover had been known for a very long time in Central and Southern Europe, it was looked upon as a roadside weed. Its value as a fodder crop was discovered, proved and first promoted by <a href="/facts/Amos_William_Howard/URWWXMuk">Amos William (A.W.) Howard</a>, of <a href="/facts/Mount_Barker%2c_South_Australia/LlkJdjHL">Mount Barker, South Australia</a>. Howard proved the clover to be a valuable fodder plant in some soil types in temperate climates.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> Subterranean clover revolutionised farming practice, converting many struggling farms into successful livestock holdings.
The discovery spread across Australia and to many other countries, due largely to Howard's generosity in publishing articles about the clover, supplying seed free of charge around the world, and advising on handling. By the time of his death on 2 March 1930, thousands of hectares in South Australia were carrying subterranean clover. It was also growing in all Australian States, and requests for seed and information were being received in great numbers from almost all countries in the world which had a temperate climate.
Howard's work is commemorated by a roadside plaque,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a> by the incorporation of a clover leaf into the arms of the <a href="/facts/District_Council_of_Mount_Barker/gTUhfq4Y">District Council of Mount Barker</a>, and by the Howard Vineyard and winery on the same site.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a>
In 1936, <a href="/facts/Yvonne_Aitken/ALS73f8h">Yvonne Aitken</a> — a graduate of Agricultural Science at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Melbourne/KbwoHgto">University of Melbourne</a> — undertook considerable research into the species alongside another Melbourne graduate, Jim Harrison. Through two sets of extensive experiments, including a four-year time-of-sowing experiment, they were able to conclude that flowering time was controlled by response to hours of daylight and temperature change.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trifolium subterraneum.

<ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120214153927/http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/cgi-bin/ccrop.exe/show_crop_39">Sub Clover Info</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080306030249/http://forage.okstate.edu/images/cloverjpg's/subterranean/subterranean.htm">Sub Clover Photos</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.gbif.org/species/5359330">Trifolium subterraneum data showing worldwide occurrences</a> from <a href="/facts/GBIF/oalM9el2">GBIF</a></li>
<li><a href="https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=Trifolium+subterraneum#tab_mapView">Trifolium subterraneum data showing Australasian occurrences</a> from the <a href="/facts/Australasian_Virtual_Herbarium/VKf22aHh">Australasian Virtual Herbarium</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">NRCS. "Trifolium subterraneum". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 15 December 2015. <a href="/wiki/Natural_Resources_Conservation_Service" target="_blank">/wiki/Natural_Resources_Conservation_Service</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Farmnote No 41/2005[permanent dead link] Western Australian Department of Agriculture <a href="http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/content/AAP/SL/HEA/SHEEPINFERTFARMNOTE.PDF" target="_blank">http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/content/AAP/SL/HEA/SHEEPINFERTFARMNOTE.PDF</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Heuzé V., Thiollet H., Tran G., Delagarde R., Bastianelli D., Lebas F. (2018). "Subclover (Trifolium subterraneum)". Feedipedia, a programme by INRA, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) <a href="https://www.feedipedia.org/node/243" target="_blank">https://www.feedipedia.org/node/243</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">T Marshall (1973). "Clover disease : what do we know and what can we do". Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia. Series 4. 14 (3): Article 2. <a href="https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2256&context=journal_agriculture4" target="_blank">https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2256&context=journal_agriculture4</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">"SUBTERRANEAN CLOVER". Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931). 1928-06-18. p. 19. Retrieved 2020-04-09. <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49390150" target="_blank">http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49390150</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Views of South Australia: Memorial to Amos William Howard (1848-1930), 1968, retrieved 2020-04-09 <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/228787970" target="_blank">https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/228787970</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">"Howard Vineyard". Howard Vineyard. Retrieved 2013-06-10. <a href="http://www.howardvineyard.com/" target="_blank">http://www.howardvineyard.com/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">"Dr Yvonne Aitken, agricultural scientist (1911-2004) | Australian Academy of Science". <a href="https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists/dr-yvonne-aitken-agricultural#3" target="_blank">https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists/dr-yvonne-aitken-agricultural#3</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Trifolium subterraneum open-in-new

Trifolium subterraneum