Trifolium ciliolatum |
Trifolium polyodon |
|
---|---|---|
foothill clover, tree clover |
Pacific grove clover, woods or Pacific grove clover |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, 5–50 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. | Herbs annual, 10–60 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | erect, branched. |
decumbent or ascending, 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 lanceolate to ovate, 0.4–1.8 cm, margins lacerate, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 0.5–6 cm; petiolules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades broadly elliptic to broadly obovate, 0.4–2.5 × 0.4–1.5 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately thickened, margins dentate-serrulate, apex rounded or truncate, often 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. |
axillary, 10–25-flowered, subglobose or globose, 1–1.8 × 1–1.8 cm; involucres flattened or bowl-shaped, 4–7 mm, incised 1/2 their length, when folded, not hiding flowers except proximally, lobes 5–12, dentate-lacerate, spinulose. |
Peduncles | 2.5–12 cm. |
1–2 cm. |
Pedicels | erect becoming reflexed, 0.5–6 mm; bracteoles linear or cup-shaped, to 1 mm. |
straight, to 1 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. |
8–10 mm; calyx campanulate-tubular, not slit between adaxial lobes, 5–7 mm, glabrous, veins 20, tube 1.9–2.4 mm, lobes unequal, 3-fid or laciniate, often appearing 7+-lobed, orifice open; corolla pink or pale purple, 8–9 mm, banner elliptic, 8–9 × 2–3 mm, apex retuse. |
Legumes | short-stipitate, ovoid, 5–10 mm. |
ellipsoid, 3.5–4 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, brown, mottled, ovoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
2, dark brown, mottled, ovoid or reniform, 1.7–1.9 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Trifolium ciliolatum |
Trifolium polyodon |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Oak-pine chaparral, meadows, roadsides. | Along streams, moist meadows. |
Elevation | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) | 0–150 m. (0–500 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.) |
The taxonomic status of Trifolium polyodon, known only from Monterey County, has long been debated. W. L. Jepson (1936) considered it a variety of T. tridentatum Lindley (= T. willdenovii). The first to consider it as a variety of T. variegatum was J. S. Martin (1943), who never formally published a new combination; an invalid combination was made by M. Zohary and D. Heller (1984). D. Isely (1998) included it in his interpretation of T. variegatum as phase 5 of that species; he speculated that T. polyodon might have originated as a hybrid of T. variegatum and T. willdenovii. Molecular studies (N. W. Ellison et al. 2006) showed that T. polyodon is closely related to T. variegatum but is distinct; it also appears to be related to T. cyathiferum. (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 | T. tridentatum var. polyodon |
Name authority | Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 304. (1849) | Greene: Pittonia 3: 215. (1897) |
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