Trifolium bejariense |
Trifolium monanthum |
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bejar clover |
carpet clover, mountain carpet clover |
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Habit | Herbs annual, 5–25 cm, pilose. | Herbs perennial, 3–22 cm, glabrous or hairy, often mat-forming. | ||||||||||||
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
decumbent to ascending, much-branched. |
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Leaves | palmate; stipules oblong to ovate, 0.8–1 cm, margins slightly denticulate or entire, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 1–5 cm; petiolules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate, 0.7–1.4 × 0.3–0.8 cm, base broadly cuneate, veins thickened, recurved, margins slightly denticulate, apex rounded or retuse, surfaces pubescent abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
palmate; stipules ovate to lanceolate, 0.3–1.2 cm, margins entire, serrate, or slightly lacerate, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 1–4.5 cm; petiolules 0.1–0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate, oblanceolate, or elliptic, 0.3–2 × 0.2–0.5 cm, base cuneate, veins prominent, margins ± dentate, serrate, or setose, apex acute, rounded, or retuse, surfaces glabrous or slightly villous. |
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Inflorescences | axillary or terminal, 5–15-flowered, globose or subglobose, 1–2 × 1.5–2 cm; involucres floral bracts forming a small, scarious involucre. |
axillary or terminal, 1–9-flowered, solitary or subglobose, 1–1.6 × 0.3–1.2 cm; involucres campanulate, 2–5 mm, incised nearly to base, lobes 2–8, lanceolate. |
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Peduncles | geniculate proximal to flowers, inflorescence appearing inverted, 2.5–11 cm. |
0.5–2 cm. |
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Pedicels | curved, 3–4 mm; bracteoles broadly rhombic, membranous, to 0.5 mm, margins dentate. |
erect, 1 mm; bracteoles absent. |
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Flowers | 7–9 mm; calyx campanulate, markedly bilabiate, venation strongly reticulate, 5–6 mm, sparsely pilose marginally, veins 5, reticulate in lobes, tube 0.7–1 mm, lobes unequal, abaxial 3 triangular-ovate, 2–3 mm, central abaxial lobe nearly linear, pubescent only along margins, adaxial 2 obovate, 5 mm, orifice open; corolla white, tinged with pink or lavender, darkening in age, 6–8 mm, banner broadly ovate, 6–8 × 5–6 mm, apex rounded, denticulate. |
10–16 mm; calyx tubular, 2–10 mm, glabrous or pubescent, veins 10, tube 4–7 mm, lobes equal, triangular-subulate, orifice open; corolla white, pink, or lavender, keel petals usually purple-spotted, 8–16 mm, banner oblong, 8–13 × 2–5 mm, apex emarginate. |
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Legumes | oblong-ovoid, 3–4 mm. |
oblong, 2–4 mm. |
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Seeds | 2–6, yellow, globose to mitten-shaped, 1.1–1.6 mm, rugose. |
1 or 2, brown, mottled, mitten-shaped, 1–2 mm, dull. |
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2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
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Trifolium bejariense |
Trifolium monanthum |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–May. | |||||||||||||
Habitat | Sandy prairies, open woods. | |||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
AR; LA; TX |
w United States; nw Mexico
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Discussion | Trifolium bejariense ranges in east-central Texas from Hunt and Lamar counties in the north, southward to Fort Bend and Harris counties, and westward to Travis and Wilson counties; the species is also known from Acadia and Rapides parishes in Louisiana, and Nevada County in Arkansas. L. F. McDermott reduced Trifolium bejariense to T. carolinianum forma bejariense (Moricand) McDermott. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 4 (4 in the flora). Morphological intergradation among subspecies of Trifolium monanthum may be indicative of low genetic barriers to crossing. It might be just as plausible to divide T. mononathum into two species instead of four subspecies (J. M. Gillett 1980), with T. monanthum encompassing populations with white rhizomes, and T. multicaule encompassing populations with taproots. Trifolium monanthum often forms dense mats. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | ||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||
Synonyms | T. macrocalyx | |||||||||||||
Name authority | Moricand: Pl. Nouv. Amér., 2, plate 2. (1834) | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 6: 523. (1865) | ||||||||||||
Web links |