| Author | Pollich | |
| Distribution | Mostly in the Mountains, scattered in the Piedmont and northern Coastal Plain. Absent from a large portion of central and southeastern NC. The Dare County specimen came from the bombing range on the mainland.
Native of Eurasia; in N.A. mostly southern Canada, nw. and ne. U.S. | |
| Abundance | Infrequent to frequent in the Mountains, rare elsewhere. | |
| Habitat | Mostly moist soil of meadows, fields, clearings, thickets, open woodlands, streamsides, roadsides. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting May-September. | |
| Identification | Golden Hop Clover is our showiest hop clover, as it has the largest heads and largest individual flowers. In addition, its leaflets are essentially sessile (vs. short-stalked in our other 2 hop clovers -- T. campestre and T. dubium). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Trifolium is a large genus of some 240-250 species globally, mostly north-temperate zone. Most are readily recognized as a clover by their 3 broad leaflets and globular to hemispherical head of densely-packed flowers. Flowers vary from white to pink, and red; the hop clovers have tiny yellow flowers. Some species were introduced for their forage value for livestock, others hitched a ride with hay, packing material, etc. Our two native species -- T. carolinianum and T. reflexum -- have suffered great loss of habitat and are now rare. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | Large Hop Clover | |
| State Rank | SE | |
| Global Rank | GNR | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
