Trifolium pratense

This perennial herb is native to Macaronesia, northwestern Africa, and from Europe to Mongolia and the Himalayas. It has become naturalized far beyond its native range, including in eastern Asia. Its leaves have three leaflets, often marked with a pale chevron. Rounded heads contain numerous pink to purplish, pea-shaped flowers with a honey-like fragrance. It grows in meadows, pastures, and roadsides and is cultivated for livestock forage and as a nitrogen-fixing cover crop. Its flowers provide nectar for bees and butterflies, and its leaves feed clouded sulphur caterpillars. It is listed as invasive in Kentucky and West Virginia. Photographed in Bogotá, Colombia.