Trifolium bolanderi
Trifolium wormskioldii
Bolander's clover, parasol clover
coast clover, cow clover, cows clover, salt marsh clover, springbank clover, wormskjold's clover
ascending, cespitose, branched.
erect, ascending, or decumbent, branched.
palmate;
stipules ovate or lanceolate, 0.6–1.5 cm, margins entire, apex acute;
petiole 1–7 cm;
petiolules to 1 mm;
leaflets 3, blades obcordate, obovate, or elliptic, 1–1.9 × 0.5–1.1 cm, base cuneate, veins fine to slightly thickened, margins setose, apex obtuse, rounded, or emarginate, apiculate, surfaces glabrous.
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.
terminal, 12–30-flowered, ovoid, 1–2 × 1.5–3 cm, rachis prolonged beyond flowers, undivided or forked, often bearing sterile flower buds distally;
involucres absent.
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.
slender, bent distally, just below flowers, 5–20 cm.
1.5–11 cm.
strongly reflexed, 1–1.2 mm;
bracteoles minute, cuplike.
straight, 1.5–2 mm;
bracteoles linear or ovate, 1–2 mm.
12–14 mm;
calyx deep violet, campanulate, gibbous, 3–5 mm, glabrous, veins 5, tube 1.5–2 mm, lobes unequal, triangular-subulate, orifice open;
corolla lavender to purplish, 11–12 mm, banner curved, oblanceolate, 10–12 × 3–4 mm, apex narrow, rounded, slightly emarginate.
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.
ellipsoid, 3–4 mm.
oblong, 2–4 mm.
1 or 2, brown, ellipsoid, 1.2–1.5 mm, smooth.
3 or 4, brown, sometimes mottled, subglobose or mitten-shaped, 1.5 mm, smooth.
= 16, 32.
Trifolium bolanderi
Trifolium wormskioldii
Trifolium bolanderi is known from the Sierra Nevada in California and may be vulnerable to shifts in climate patterns. Genetic diversity of populations of the species (based on allozyme patterns) was found to be relatively high; two genetically distinct groups of populations are known (R. G. Denton 2002).
(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.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
