Trifolium buckwestiorum |
Trifolium palmeri |
|
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Santa Cruz clover |
Palmer's clover, southern island clover |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, 5–40 cm, glabrous. | Herbs annual, 4–40 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | decumbent to ascending or erect, slightly branched. |
erect or ascending, branched. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules whitish with prominent green veins, ovate, 0.3–0.5 cm, margins lacerate, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 1–2.4 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate to elliptic, 0.6–1.5 × 0.3–0.8 cm, base cuneate, veins ± thickened distally, margins denticulate, sometimes entire proximally, apex rounded, acute, or retuse, surfaces glabrous. |
palmate; stipules lanceolate, 0.5–2.5 cm, margins entire or slightly serrate, apex acuminate; petiole 0.5–5 cm; petiolules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, 0.8–3 × 0.3–0.8 cm, base cuneate, veins thickened, margins setose-serrulate, apex acute, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal or axillary, 15–20-flowered (early inflorescences hidden in stipules, subsessile, 2–5-flowered, flowers cleistogamous), subglobose, 0.5–0.8 × 0.6–0.8 cm; involucres flattened or shallowly bowl-shaped, 6–8 mm, when folded, nearly hiding calyces, glabrous or sparsely hairy, lobes 4 or 5, ± parallel-sided, 3 or 4-toothed. |
axillary or terminal, 10–20-flowered, globose to subglobose, 0.5–2 × 0.5–2 cm, rachis prolonged beyond flowers; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 1–3.5 cm. |
1–5 cm. |
Pedicels | straight, to 0.5 mm; bracteoles absent. |
becoming dramatically reflexed, 3–4 mm; bracteoles low, broadly triangular, membranous, to 0.5 mm. |
Flowers | 7–8 mm; calyx tubular, 4–5 mm, glabrous, veins 10, tube 2–2.5 mm, lobes subequal, triangular, margins conspicuously 2 or 3-toothed, apex aristate, orifice open; corolla pale pink or white, 6–7 mm, banner oblong, 5–7 × 1 mm, apex emarginate or erose. |
5–9 mm; calyx narrowly campanulate, 5–6.5 mm, glabrous, veins 10, tube 2–3 mm, lobes unequal, narrowly triangular to acicular, margins green or purple, membranous, orifice open; corolla pink or purple, 5–9 mm, banner narrowly elliptic-oblong, 5–9 × 3–4 mm, apex narrowly rounded to acute. |
Legumes | ovoid, 2.5 mm. |
ovoid-ellipsoid, 4–6 mm. |
Seeds | 1, dark brown, slightly mottled, ovoid, 2 mm, smooth. |
1 or 2, yellow, purple-mottled, mitten-shaped, 2 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Trifolium buckwestiorum |
Trifolium palmeri |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Meadows, roadsides, grassy hillsides. | Thin soils on slopes. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA |
CA; Mexico (Baja California) |
Discussion | Trifolium buckwestiorum, which ranges from Mendocino to Monterey counties, is unique among clovers in North America because of its aboveground cleistogamous, axillary flowers. The only other clover in North America that produces cleistogamous flowers is T. amphianthum, which produces its cleistogamous flowers at ground level and then pushes them into the substrate. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Trifolium palmeri is known from the islands off the coast of southern California and Baja California, Mexico. It was long considered a variety of T. gracilentum but molecular analyses support its recognition as distinct (N. W. Ellison et al. 2006). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | T. gracilentum var. palmeri | |
Name authority | Isely: Madroño 39: 90, fig. 2. (1992) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 11: 132. (1876) |
Web links |