Trifolium ciliolatum |
Trifolium buckwestiorum |
|
---|---|---|
foothill clover, tree clover |
Santa Cruz clover |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, 5–50 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. | Herbs annual, 5–40 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | erect, branched. |
decumbent to ascending or erect, slightly branched. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules ovate-lanceolate, 1–1.5 cm, margins entire, sometimes ciliate, apex acuminate; petiole 1–13 cm; petiolules 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades elliptic to oblong or obovate, 0.8–3.5 × 0.5–1.5 cm, base cuneate, veins thickened, margins serrate proximally, obscurely denticulate distally, apex usually rounded or retuse, rarely acute, surfaces glabrous. |
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. |
Inflorescences | axillary or terminal, 10–30-flowered, ovoid to subglobose, 0.7–2.2 × 0.5–2 cm; involucres a narrow rim, 0.5 mm, membranous, dentate. |
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. |
Peduncles | 2.5–12 cm. |
1–3.5 cm. |
Pedicels | erect becoming reflexed, 0.5–6 mm; bracteoles linear or cup-shaped, to 1 mm. |
straight, to 0.5 mm; bracteoles absent. |
Flowers | 6–13 mm; calyx broadly campanulate, 5–11 mm, glabrous, veins 10, tube 1–5 mm, lobes unequal, elliptic to linear, margins hyaline, dentate or pectinate, ciliate, sinuses narrow, orifice open; corolla white, pink, or purple, 5–13 mm, banner broadly ovate, 6–13 × 4–7 mm, apex rounded, apiculate. |
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. |
Legumes | short-stipitate, ovoid, 5–10 mm. |
ovoid, 2.5 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, brown, mottled, ovoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1, dark brown, slightly mottled, ovoid, 2 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Trifolium ciliolatum |
Trifolium buckwestiorum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Oak-pine chaparral, meadows, roadsides. | Meadows, roadsides, grassy hillsides. |
Elevation | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA; Mexico (Baja California)
|
CA |
Discussion | Trifolium ciliolatum is relatively widespread in California and is found in scattered sites in Baja California, Oregon, and Washington. Trifolium ciliatum Nuttall (1848), which pertains here, is a later homonym of T. ciliatum E. D. Clarke (1813). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | T. ciliatum var. discolor | |
Name authority | Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 304. (1849) | Isely: Madroño 39: 90, fig. 2. (1992) |
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