Description

Strawberry clover is a perennial, introduced clover mainly used for pasture and in mixtures with grass for hay and silage.  Strawberry clover is significantly more expensive than other clovers and for this reason it is not used frequently.  Strawberry Clover spreads by stolons (similar to strawberries) and is a prostrate plant hugging the ground rather than growing upright.  The forage and seeds of strawberry clover are used by big and small game and upland bird.  This clover also can have a significant percentage of hard seed meaning that it might not grow the first year, needing a winter to break the hard seed coat down so that it can germinate in the spring.  It either needs to be planted in the fall so the winter naturally breaks the seed coat or has some assisted form of dormancy breaking to assure a good establishment.

Strawberry clover is typically used in moist saline and alkaline soils and is adapted to wet meadows, streams and seeps.  It is the most saline tolerant clover commercially available. It can tolerate flooding for up to 2 months, salinity, and short-term drought.  It needs at least 25 inches of annual precipitation to thrive but can withstand mean annual precipitation as low as 17 inches.  Strawberry clover is more hardy and tolerant of harsh environmental conditions than white clover.