ABSTRACT
White clover, Trifolium repens L., is a member of the Trifolieae tribe of the cool-season Galegoid clade in the Papilinoideae sub-family of the legume family Fabaceae (Doyle and Luckow 2003). The most closely related genus is Melilotus (sweet clovers), and the genus Medicago, including alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is also part of the Trifolieae. The clover genus Trifolium includes more than 250 species, of which 10 are of considerable agricultural importance (Zohary and Heller 1984). White clover (T. repens L.) is located in section Lotoidea of the Trifolium genus, along with the other perennial species T. hybridum L. (alsike clover) and T. ambiguum M. Bieb (kura clover or Caucasian clover). Centres of diversity for clovers have been identifi ed in the eastern Mediterranean, East Africa and South America (Zohary and Heller 1984). Recent work supports a Mediterranean origin of the genus in the Early Miocene period (Ellison et al. 2006).
