Trifolium bifidum |
Trifolium oliganthum |
|
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notch-leaf clover, Pinole clover, piñole clover |
few-flower clover, few-flowerered clover |
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Habit | Herbs annual, 5–55 cm, sparsely pubescent or glabrous. | Herbs annual, 10–50 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | erect, branched. |
erect, dichotomously branched. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules ovate to lanceolate, 0.8–1.5 cm, margins entire or slightly serrate, apex acicular; petiole 1–7 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades narrowly obcordate, obovate, oblanceolate, or linear, 1–2.5 × 0.3–0.7 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately thickened, margins serrate distally or entire, apex rounded, truncate, shallowly to deeply retuse, or deeply 2-fid, surfaces glabrous or hairy abaxially along midvein. |
palmate; stipules lanceolate, 0.4–1.2 cm, margins lacerate, apex subulate; petiole 0.5–4 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades linear, oblong, oblanceolate, or elliptic, 0.5–2.5 × 0.1–0.5 cm, base cuneate, veins fine or moderately thickened, margins entire, spinulose, or dentate, apex rounded or truncate, mucronate, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | axillary or terminal, 5–30-flowered, globose to subglobose, 0.8–1.5 × 0.8–1.5 cm, rachis prolonged beyond flowers; involucres a very narrow rim, to 0.5 mm. |
axillary or terminal, 3–15-flowered, obconic, 0.3–1.2 × 0.3–0.8 cm; involucres flattened to bowl-shaped, 1–2 mm, when folded, not hiding flowers except proximally, incised 4/5–9/10 their length, lobes lanceolate-subulate. |
Peduncles | 3–8 cm. |
2.5–7.5 cm. |
Pedicels | reflexed in fruit, 1–3 mm; bracteoles broadly triangular, membranous, to 0.5 mm. |
erect, 0.5–2 mm; bracteoles absent. |
Flowers | 6–8 mm; calyx campanulate, 3–3.6 mm, slightly hairy or glabrous, veins 10, tube 1–1.5 mm, lobes unequal, subulate, margins green or purple, orifice open; corolla pink or purple, 5–7 mm, banner elliptic to oblong, 5–7 × 3–4 mm, apex rounded, apiculate. |
11–16 mm; calyx campanulate, slit between adaxial lobes, 4–5 mm, glabrous, veins 10, tube 2.5–5.2 mm, lobes triangular-subulate, 3-fid or shouldered below apex, orifice open; corolla lavender with white tips, keel petals purple, 6–8 mm, banner narrowly ovate-oblong, 6–8 × 2 mm, apex narrowly rounded, erose. |
Legumes | stipitate, obovoid, 3–4 mm. |
sessile, oblong, 2.1–3.2 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, brown, mottled, oblong, 2–3 mm, smooth. |
1 or 2 (or 3), reddish brown, mottled, lenticular or reniform, 1.2–1.3 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Trifolium bifidum |
Trifolium oliganthum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Jul. |
Habitat | Open woodlands, fields, roadsides, slopes, stream margins, meadows. | Stream banks, grassy, rocky slopes, meadows, fields. |
Elevation | 0–1200 m. (0–3900 ft.) | 0–1100 m. (0–3600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
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CA; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | Trifolium bifidum ranges from Baja California, Mexico, northward through California to scattered sites in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Recent re-evaluation of Trifolium bifidum and related species showed complete overlap in characters for the two varieties that have been recognized previously, with no clear distinctions between them (L. Rogers, pers. comm.). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Trifolium oliganthum is relatively common throughout much of its range in California; it is found in a few scattered sites northward into Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Even though it closely resembles T. variegatum, it is placed near T. bifidum in molecular studies (N. W. Ellison et al. 2006). Trifolium hexanthum Greene ex A. Heller, which pertains here, is not a validly published name. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | T. bifidum var. decipiens, T. greenei, T. hallii | T. pauciflorum, T. filipes, T. oliganthum var. sonomense, T. triflorum |
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 3: 102. (1864) | Steudel: Nomencl. Bot. ed. 2, 2: 707. (1841) |
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