Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson CLXVIII · Topic 25: Farm and garden crops
168. The white clover
Goal: Your child watches one white clover head bloom over several days, sees the leaves “sleep” at night, and tests whether the flowers need bees to make seed.
You'll need
- Nature notebook, pencil and colored pencils
- A hand lens (magnifying glass)
- A short piece of string or yarn
- A small square of cheesecloth or tulle and a twist tie
What's in the book
A Teacher's Story about white clover and the lesson: Leading thought, Method and seven questions, then short verses including one about four-leaf clovers.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
White clover blooms in lawns and pastures from late spring through summer. Keep shoes on in clover: bees are working there.
The leading thought
The white clover has creeping stems. Its flowers depend upon the bees for their pollination, and the bees depend upon the white clover blossoms for honey.
The leaf
Where does the white clover grow? Why is it so valuable in lawns?
Is part of the leaflet lighter colored than the rest? If so, describe the shape.
While you're looking, hunt for a four-leaf clover.
Sleeping leaves
Note the behavior of the clover leaves at night. How do the two side leaflets act? The central leaflet?
Go out with a flashlight after dark and compare with the daytime.
Mark one head
Tie a string about its stem so that you may be sure you are observing the same flower
Which blossoms begin to open first—those outside or inside? How many buds open each day? What happens to the blossoms as they fade?
A bee experiment
Tie little bags of cheesecloth over two or three heads of white clover and see if they produce any seed.
Cover one or two heads before they open. Leave others uncovered. In a few weeks, rub each dry head over white paper and compare.
Nature notebook
Draw a white clover leaf with its pale mark, and a flower-head with the faded flowers hanging down underneath. Start a day-by-day chart for your marked head.
Answers to the book's problems
The leaves fold together at night. Faded flowers bend down out of the way so bees go to the fresh ones. Covered heads make little or no seed because bees can't reach them.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.