Trifolium ciliolatum |
Trifolium subterraneum |
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foothill clover, tree clover |
burrowing clover, subclover, subterranean clover, subterranean trefoil |
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Habit | Herbs annual, 5–50 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. | Herbs annual, 10–80 cm, glabrous or appressed-pubescent. |
Stems | erect, branched. |
prostrate to 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 ovate, 0.5–3 cm, margins entire or slightly toothed, ciliate, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 1–20 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades broadly obcordate, 0.8–2.8 × 1–3 cm, base cuneate, veins delicate, widely spaced, margins mostly entire, slightly dentate distally, apex emarginate, surfaces appressed-sericeous. |
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, elongate and reflexed, pushing into substrate after anthesis, fertile flowers 2–7, sterile flowers 0–80, globose or cylindric, 0.5–1.5 × 0.8–1.5 cm; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 2.5–12 cm. |
2–6.5 cm. |
Pedicels | erect becoming reflexed, 0.5–6 mm; bracteoles linear or cup-shaped, to 1 mm. |
reflexed after anthesis, 0.2–0.4 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. |
fertile ones 7–15 mm; calyx tubular, 5–6 mm, glabrous or hairy, veins indistinct, tube 3–4 mm, lobes subequal, pubescent or glabrous, spreading, orifice open; corolla white, pink, or pink-striped, 7–10 mm, banner ovate-elliptic, 7–10 × 1.5–2 mm, apex rounded; sterile flowers 4–7 mm; calyx teeth linear; corolla absent. |
Legumes | short-stipitate, ovoid, 5–10 mm. |
subterranean, obovoid, 3–4 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, brown, mottled, ovoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1, purplish black, ellipsoid, 2.6–3 mm, smooth, dull. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Trifolium ciliolatum |
Trifolium subterraneum |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Oak-pine chaparral, meadows, roadsides. | Open, disturbed sandy soils. |
Elevation | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) | 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA; Mexico (Baja California)
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CA; GA; LA; MA; MS; NC; NJ; OR; SC; WA; BC; w Europe; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in s South America, s Africa, Pacific Islands (Hawaii, New Zealand), Australia]
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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 subterraneum was first introduced by the USDA about 1921 as a pasture crop; it is utilized as such in the western and southern United States (W. S. McGuire 1985). Inflorescences of T. subterraneum consist of intermixed sterile and fertile flowers; after fetilization, the inflorescence is pushed underground, where the fruits develop. (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) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 767. (1753) |
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