Trifolium bifidum |
Trifolium wormskioldii |
|
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notch-leaf clover, Pinole clover, piñole clover |
coast clover, cow clover, cows clover, salt marsh clover, springbank clover, wormskjold's clover |
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Habit | Herbs annual, 5–55 cm, sparsely pubescent or glabrous. | Herbs perennial, 10–40 cm, glabrous; rhizomes elongate. |
Stems | erect, branched. |
erect, ascending, or decumbent, 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 ovate to lanceolate, 1.5–2 cm, margins entire (proximal stipules) or lacerate (distal stipules), apex acute to acuminate; petiole 1–11 cm; petiolules 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate to elliptic, 0.4–4.2 × 0.2–1.3 cm, base cuneate or rounded, veins fine or thickened distally, margins spinulose-serrate, apex usually acute to rounded, sometimes retuse or 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, 20–50-flowered, subglobose or globose, 1.8–2.5 × 2–2.5 cm; involucres broadly bowl-shaped, 12–20 mm, incised 1/3–1/2 their length, lobes 10+, sharply and acutely serrate, veins prominent. |
Peduncles | 3–8 cm. |
1.5–11 cm. |
Pedicels | reflexed in fruit, 1–3 mm; bracteoles broadly triangular, membranous, to 0.5 mm. |
straight, 1.5–2 mm; bracteoles linear or ovate, 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. |
12–14 mm, odor somewhat unpleasant; calyx whitish, tubular, 5–6 mm, glabrous, veins 10, tube 2–3 mm, lobes green to purple, subequal, abaxial rarely longer than tube, orifice open; corolla usually magenta to purple, rarely white or bicolored, 10–12 mm, banner ovate-oblong, 12–14 × 2–3 mm, apex truncate or rounded, slightly retuse. |
Legumes | stipitate, obovoid, 3–4 mm. |
oblong, 2–4 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, brown, mottled, oblong, 2–3 mm, smooth. |
3 or 4, brown, sometimes mottled, subglobose or mitten-shaped, 1.5 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16, 32. |
Trifolium bifidum |
Trifolium wormskioldii |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Sep. |
Habitat | Open woodlands, fields, roadsides, slopes, stream margins, meadows. | Saline flats, beaches, meadows, grassy areas, alluvial soils. |
Elevation | 0–1200 m. (0–3900 ft.) | 0–2700 m. (0–8900 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
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AZ; CA; CO; ID; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
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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 wormskioldii is largely tetraploid and is widespread in western North America. Distinguishing T. wormskioldii from closely allied species (especially T. mucronatum) is sometimes difficult, which led R. C. Barneby (1989) to synonymize T. mucronatum and T. pinetorum under the former name. Trifolium wormskioldii produces long, white rhizomes; T. mucronatum produces only short rhizomes at most, often only small, fibrous roots or taproots (J. M. Gillett 1980). The distinction of T. pinetorum from T. wormskioldii was supported by N. W. Ellison et al. (2006); those authors did not include material of T. mucronatum in their DNA analyses. Trifolium wormskioldii rhizomes may have been a food resource for Native American groups in the Pacific Northwest (N. J. Turner and H. V. Kuhnlein 1982). (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 | Lupinaster wormskioldii, T. fendleri, T. fimbriatum, T. heterodon, T. spinulosum |
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 3: 102. (1864) | Lehmann: Index Seminum (Hamburg) 1825: 17. (1825) |
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