Trifolium pratense, the red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, native to Europe, Western Asia and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalised in many other regions. It is a herbaceous, short-lived perennial plant, variable in size, growing to 20–80 cm tall. It has a deep taproot which makes it tolerant to drought and gives it a good soil structuring effect. The leaves are alternate, trifoliate (with three leaflets), each leaflet 15–30 mm long and 8–15 mm broad, green with a characteristic pale crescent in the outer half of the leaf; the petioleis 1–4 cm long, with two basal stipules that are abruptly narrowed to a bristle-like point. The flowers are dark pink with a paler base, 12–15 mm long, produced in a dense inflorescence, and are mostly visited by bumblebees.[