Trifolium ciliolatum |
Trifolium incarnatum |
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foothill clover |
crimson clover |
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Habit | Plants annual, erect, 5–50 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy; branched. | Plants usually annual, rarely biennial, erect, 20–60 cm, short-villous; unbranched or sparsely branched. |
Leaves | palmate; leaflets 3, elliptic to oblong or obovate, 8–35 × 5–15 mm, bases cuneate; margins serrate proximally, obscurely denticulate distally; veins thickened; tips usually rounded or retuse, rarely acute; surfaces glabrous; petioles 10–130 mm; petiolules ~0.5 mm; stipules ovate-lanceolate, 10–15 mm; margins entire, sometimes ciliate; tips acuminate. |
pinnate; leaflets 3, broadly ovate, 10–30 × 10–15 mm, bases cuneate; margins denticulate; veins fine; tips emarginate or retuse; surfaces with spreading pustule-based hairs; petioles 10–80 mm; petiolules 1 mm; stipules ovate, 10–20 mm; margins wavy or toothed; tips blunt or somewhat tapering distally. |
Inflorescences | axillary or terminal, 10–30-flowered; ovoid becoming subglobose, 7–22 × 5–20 mm; involucres a narrow, membranous, dentate rim; ~0.5 mm; bracteoles linear or cup-shaped; ? 1 mm. |
terminal, 25–100-flowered, oblong, 20–70 × 10–25 mm; involucres absent; bracteoles absent. |
Peduncles | 25–120 mm. |
20–100 mm. |
Pedicels | erect but becoming reflexed, 0.5–6 mm. |
straight; ~0.5 mm. |
Flowers | 6–13 mm; calyces broadly campanulate, 5–11 mm, glabrous; veins 10; tubes 1–5 mm; lobes elliptic to linear, unequal; margins hyaline, markedly ciliate, dentate or pectinate; sinuses narrow; orifices open; corollas 5–13 mm, white, pink, or purple; banners broadly ovate, 6–13 × 4–7 mm; tips rounded, apiculate. |
10–15 mm; calyces tubular-campanulate; ~10 mm, villous; veins 10; tubes 3–4 mm; lobes spreading in fruit; equal; > tube; orifices narrowly opening; corollas 11–17 mm, usually scarlet to red, rarely pink or white; banners oblong-elliptic; much > wings and keel petals, 10–16 × 2 mm; tips acute. |
Fruits | longitudinally dehiscent; ovoid, 5–10 mm; < 2 × as long as calyces; short-stipitate. |
transversely dehiscent; ovoid, 2.5–3 mm; leathery distally. |
Seeds | 1–2; ovoid, 2.5–3 mm, brown, mottled; smooth. |
1, ellipsoid, 2–2.5 mm; reddish; smooth; glossy. |
2n | =16. |
=14. |
Trifolium ciliolatum |
Trifolium incarnatum |
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Distribution | ||
Discussion | Oak-pine chaparral, meadows, roadsides. Flowering May–Jun. 50–800 m. Col, ECas, Sisk, WV. CA, WA; south to Mexico. Native. |
Meadows, roadsides, especially in sandy soil. Flowering May–Jun. 0–200 m. Sisk, WV. CA, ID, WA; scattered throughout North America; worldwide. Exotic. Trifolium incarnatum is native to Europe and was introduced to the United States in 1818 as a forage and green manure crop; it is commonly used as a winter grazing crop and in roadside grass plantings as a nitrogen source, especially in the southeastern states (Knight 1985). It is commonly found as a weed worldwide. |
Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 725 Michael Vincent |
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 731 Michael Vincent |
Sibling taxa | ||
Web links |
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