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tomcat clover

Habit Plants annual, erect, 10–60 cm, glabrous; branched.
Leaves

palmate;

leaflets 3, linear, lanceolate, or elliptic, 10–50 × 2–15 mm, bases cuneate;

margins serrate;

veins fine;

tips acute; blunt, or retuse;

surfaces glabrous;

petioles 10–80 mm;

petiolules ~0.5 mm;

stipules lanceolate or ovate, 10–20 mm;

margins dentate or lacerate;

tips acuminate.

Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, 10–50-flowered, globose or ovoid, 10–35 × 10–30 mm;

involucres flattened or bowl-shaped, divided ¼–?their length; when flattened laterally not hiding flowers except proximally, 3–9 mm, deeply lacerate;

bracteoles absent.

Peduncles

20–150 mm, glabrous.

Pedicels

erect; ~0.5 mm.

Flowers

12–20 mm;

calyces tubular-campanulate; slit between adaxial lobes, 6–9 mm, glabrous;

veins 10–15;

tubes 3–7 mm;

lobes triangular or subulate, 3-fid or shouldered, unequal; ?tube;

orifices open;

corollas 10–18 mm, usually white with purple spot, sometimes lavender or pink or all white;

banners narrowly oblong, 12–20 × 3–4 mm;

tips obtuse or retuse.

Fruits

ellipsoid, 3 mm.

Seeds

1–2, globose-ellipsoid, 1.5–2.5 mm, yellow, mottled; smooth.

2n

=16.

Trifolium willdenovii

Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Roadsides, meadows, lawns, hillsides, stream margins, open oak chaparral. Flowering Apr–Jul. 0–1500 m. Casc, CR, ECas, Est, Sisk, WV. CA, ID, WA; north to British Columbia, south­east to AZ, south to Mexico. Native.

Trifolium willdenovii was considered by Zohary and Heller (1984) to be one of the most variable clover species in North America.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 2 draft
Michael Vincent
Sibling taxa
T. albopurpureum, T. angustifolium, T. appendiculatum, T. arvense, T. aureum, T. barbigerum, T. beckwithii, T. bifidum, T. breweri, T. campestre, T. cernuum, T. ciliolatum, T. cyathiferum, T. depauperatum, T. dichotomum, T. douglasii, T. dubium, T. echinatum, T. eriocephalum, T. fragiferum, T. fucatum, T. glomeratum, T. gymnocarpon, T. hirtum, T. howellii, T. hybridum, T. incarnatum, T. latifolium, T. leibergii, T. longipes, T. macraei, T. macrocephalum, T. microcephalum, T. microdon, T. obtusiflorum, T. oliganthum, T. owyheense, T. plumosum, T. pratense, T. productum, T. repens, T. resupinatum, T. retusum, T. siskiyouense, T. striatum, T. subterraneum, T. suffocatum, T. tomentosum, T. variegatum, T. vesiculosum, T. wormskioldii
Synonyms Trifolium tridentatum, Trifolium tridentatum var. tridentatum
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