Trifolium dasyphyllum |
Trifolium medium |
|
---|---|---|
alpine clover |
trèfle flexueux, zigzag clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–20 cm, appressed-pubescent. | Herbs perennial, 20–70 cm, strigose. |
Stems | cespitose, branched, numerous short stems. |
erect-ascending, flexuous, often zigzag, branched. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules lanceolate-linear, 1.5–2 cm, margins entire, apex acuminate; petiole 0.6–3.5 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades oblong-elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, sometimes folded, 0.6–3.2 × 0.2–0.6 cm, base cuneate, veins obscure, margins entire, apex acute, surfaces glabrous or hairy. |
palmate; stipules lanceolate-linear, 1.8–2.8 cm, margins entire, ciliate, apex subulate; petiole 1–9 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades elliptic-oblong, obovate, or ovate, 1.5–5 × 0.8–3.5 cm, base cuneate, veins arcuate, forked, margins entire, finely ciliate, apex obtuse to acute, surfaces appressed-pubescent. |
Inflorescences | axillary or terminal, 5–16-flowered, globose, 1.5–3.5 × 1.2–3.3 cm; involucres formed of proximal bracteoles, bases sometimes connate. |
terminal or axillary, rarely paired, 20–50-flowered, globose or ovoid, 1.5–4 × 1.3–3.8 cm; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 2–17 cm. |
1–3 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, 1.5–2 mm; bracteoles linear-lanceolate, scarious, 2–6 mm, or scalelike. |
straight, 0.5 mm; bracteoles absent. |
Flowers | 12–16 mm; calyx campanulate, 6–9 mm, pubescent, veins 10, tube 2–5 mm, lobes unequal, linear-subulate, orifice open; corolla often bicolored cream and violet, sometimes all red-purple or violet, 1.2–1.6 mm, banner broadly elliptic-ovate, 11–15 × 4–5 mm, folded distally, apex rounded, apiculate; ovaries pubescent distally. |
15–18 mm; calyx cylindric, 6–10 mm, glabrous, veins 10–15, tube 2.5–3.5 mm, lobes unequal, subulate-setaceous, orifice glabrous or hairy distally, closed; corolla usually reddish purple, rarely white, 12–20 mm, banner lanceolate-elliptic, 1.2–2 × 4–5 mm, apex acute. |
Legumes | oblong, 4–6 mm. |
ovoid to globose, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 2–3 mm. |
Seeds | 1–3, dark brown, ovoid-reniform, 2–2.5 mm, smooth. |
1 or 2, yellow-brown, mitten-shaped, 1–1.5 mm, smooth, lustrous. |
2n | = 16. |
= 48, 64, 68, 70, 72, 80, ca. 126. |
Trifolium dasyphyllum |
Trifolium medium |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering May–Aug. |
Habitat | Alpine meadows, rocky slopes. | Fields, roadsides. |
Elevation | 2100–4100 m. (6900–13500 ft.) | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) |
Distribution |
CO; MT; NM; UT; WY
|
MA; MD; ME; MI; NJ; NY; RI; NB; ON; QC; Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in e Asia (e China), Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia] |
Discussion | Three subspecies of Trifolium dasyphyllum were recognized by J. M. Gillett (1965), but he commented on the overlap in diagnostic characters of the subspecies. In their monograph of Trifolium, M. Zohary and D. Heller (1984) mirrored the treatment by Gillett, and also commented on intermediacy of characters in some specimens. The subspecies were not accepted by R. D. Dorn (1988), citing extensive intergradation, or by R. C. Barneby (1989), citing variability within T. dasyphyllum that is not linked with distribution or other morphological features. Trifolium dasyphyllum is found from eastern Utah and from Santa Fe County in New Mexico northward through central Colorado to central and northwestern Wyoming and Cascade, Gallatin, and Madison counties in Montana. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Trifolium medium was reported for Kentucky by H. Garman (1902); no non-cultivated specimens have been seen for that state (M. A. Vincent 2001). Reports of T. medium in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are based on old reports and the species does not appear to be extant in those regions. (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. anemophilum, T. dasyphyllum subsp. anemophilum, T. dasyphyllum subsp. uintense, T. dasyphyllum var. uintense, T. lividum, T. scariosum, T. uintense | |
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 315. (1838) | Linnaeus: Amoen. Acad. 4: 105. (1759) |
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