Trifolium bifidum |
Trifolium repens |
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notch-leaf clover, Pinole clover, piñole clover |
Dutch clover, trèfle blanc, white clover |
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Habit | Herbs annual, 5–55 cm, sparsely pubescent or glabrous. | Herbs perennial, 10–40 cm, glabrous or glabrescent. |
Stems | erect, branched. |
creeping, branched, rooting at nodes. |
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, 0.9–1.3 cm, margins entire, apex short-subulate; petiole 5–20 cm; petiolules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate, obcordate, or orbiculate, 0.6–4 × 0.4–2.5 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately prominent, margins serrulate distally, apex rounded, emarginate, or retuse, 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, 20–40+-flowered, globose, 1.5–3.5 × 1.5–3.5 cm; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 3–8 cm. |
erect, from prostrate stems, 1.5–30 cm. |
Pedicels | reflexed in fruit, 1–3 mm; bracteoles broadly triangular, membranous, to 0.5 mm. |
strongly reflexed in fruit, elongate, 3–5 mm; bracteoles white, lanceolate, 1–2 mm. |
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. |
8–13 mm; calyx campanulate, 3–5 mm, glabrous, veins 6–10, tube 1.5–2.5 mm, lobes unequal to subequal, adaxial shorter than tube, triangular-lanceolate, orifice open; corolla white, often pinkish in age, 4–12 mm, banner ovate-lanceolate or oblong, 4–12 × 1–4 mm, apex rounded. |
Legumes | stipitate, obovoid, 3–4 mm. |
linear-oblong, 4–5 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, brown, mottled, oblong, 2–3 mm, smooth. |
3 or 4, yellow, reddish brown, or light brown, ovoid-reniform, 1 mm, smooth, glossy. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16, 28, 32, 48, 64. |
Trifolium bifidum |
Trifolium repens |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Feb–Oct. |
Habitat | Open woodlands, fields, roadsides, slopes, stream margins, meadows. | Fields, lawns, roadsides, forest edges, waste places. |
Elevation | 0–1200 m. (0–3900 ft.) | 0–4000 m. (0–13100 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
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AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Greenland; Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America, Africa, Pacific Islands]
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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 repens may very well be the most important temperate pasture plant (M. J. Baker and W. M. Williams 1987) and has been considered the most important perennial pasture plant in North America (C. V. Piper 1924). It was introduced at least as early as the mid 1800s (R. N. Mack 2003) and spread so rapidly that it became known to Native Americans as White Man’s Foot Grass (W. Strickland 1801). It is morphologically diverse; most material from the flora area represents var. repens, but some specimens fit within the circumscriptions given by M. Zohary and D. Heller (1984) of var. giganteum Lagrèze-Fossat, with inflorescences to 3.5 cm diameter and leaflets nearly 4 cm; others have smaller, pale-pink petals with hairy petioles and pedicels, and approach var. biasolettii (Steudel & Hochstetter) Ascherson & Graebner (T. occidentale Coombe). (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. saxicola |
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 3: 102. (1864) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 767. (1753) |
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