Trifolium ciliolatum |
Trifolium trichocalyx |
|
---|---|---|
foothill clover, tree clover |
Monterey clover |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, 5–50 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. | Herbs annual, 5–45 cm, sparsely villous to glabrescent. |
Stems | erect, branched. |
prostrate, decumbent, or erect, 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, 0.4–1.2 cm, margins serrate-lacerate, apex acuminate; petiole 1–4 cm; petiolules 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate, 0.5–1.5 × 0.4–1 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately prominent, margins denticulate, apex truncate, retuse, or mucronulate, surfaces glabrescent. |
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 or terminal, 2–15-flowered, subglobose, 1.5–1.8 × 0.5–1.5 cm; involucres flattened or vase-shaped, 1–3 mm, when folded, not hiding flowers except proximally, incised 2/3–3/4 their length, lobes 5–15, linear-lanceolate, entire, acuminate. |
Peduncles | 2.5–12 cm. |
1.5–4 cm. |
Pedicels | erect becoming reflexed, 0.5–6 mm; bracteoles linear or cup-shaped, to 1 mm. |
erect, 1.5 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. |
8–11 mm; calyx campanulate-tubular, not slit between adaxial lobes, 6–9 mm, usually densely pubescent, rarely sparsely so, veins 10, tube 2.5–4.5 mm, lobes unequal, lanceolate-subulate, orifice open; corolla light purple with darker purple keel petals, 6–10 mm, banner narrowly obovate, 4–5 × 1 mm, apex retuse. |
Legumes | short-stipitate, ovoid, 5–10 mm. |
sessile, oblong, 5 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, brown, mottled, ovoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
3–6(–9), pale brown, mottled purple, globose to mitten-shaped, 0.8–1 mm, smooth to slightly roughened, semiglossy. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Trifolium ciliolatum |
Trifolium trichocalyx |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Apr–May. |
Habitat | Oak-pine chaparral, meadows, roadsides. | Sandy, rich soils in open Monterey pine forests, often after fire. |
Elevation | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) | 0–50 m. (0–200 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 trichocalyx is an extremely rare species known only from Mendocino and Monterey counties. D. I. Axelrod (1982) suggested that T. trichocalyx might have originated as a hybrid between T. microcephalum and T. variegatum, but this is not supported by molecular studies (N. W. Ellison et al. 2006). It appears to be fire-adapted and appeared in large numbers shortly after a fire in 1987 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2004). (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. oliganthum var. trichocalyx |
Name authority | Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 304. (1849) | A. Heller: Muhlenbergia 1: 55. (1904) |
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