Trifolium eriocephalum |
Trifolium carolinianum |
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woolly-head clover |
Carolina clover |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, 12–46 cm, sparsely hairy to densely villous, appressed-pubescent, or glabrate. | Herbs annual, 5–30 cm, pilose. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | erect or decumbent, branched. |
prostrate, ascending, or erect, branched. |
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Leaves | palmate; stipules lanceolate or ovate, 1–5 cm, margins entire or denticulate, apex acuminate or acute; petiole 1–15 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades linear, linear-elliptic, elliptic, lanceolate, lanceolate-oblong, or obovate, 1–5 × 0.4–1.2 cm, base cuneate, veins fine or ± thickened, margins denticulate or serrulate, apex acuminate or acute, surfaces appressed-pubescent abaxially, glabrous, densely villous, or sparsely or densely pilose adaxially. |
palmate; stipules ovate, 0.6–1 cm, margins entire or serrate, apex acuminate; petiole 2–5 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate, 0.6–1.4 × 0.3–1.1 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately thickened, margins denticulate, apex rounded, sometimes retuse, surfaces glabrous except on veins abaxially. |
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Inflorescences | terminal or axillary, 25–70-flowered, inverted or horizontal, ellipsoid or globose to subglobose, 2–3 × 1–3 cm, rachis prolonged beyond flowers; involucres absent. |
axillary or terminal, 5–40-flowered, globose, 1–2 × 1–2 cm; involucres minute. |
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Peduncles | bent distally, proximal to flowers, 3–18 cm. |
± geniculate proximal to flowers, inflorescence appearing sideways or inverted, 3.5–10 cm. |
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Pedicels | reflexed, to 0.3 mm; bracteoles absent. |
reflexed, 2–3 mm; bracteoles ovate or lanceolate, 0.5 mm. |
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Flowers | 9–18 mm; calyx campanulate, curved in fruit, 4–11 mm, villous, veins 10, tube 1.5–2.5 mm, lobes unequal, 2–3 times tube, subulate, often strongly curved and twisted, plumose, orifice open; corolla white, cream, or purple, 8–16 mm, banner oblanceolate, 8–16 × 3–5 mm, apex rounded or retuse, recurved; ovaries pubescent distally. |
4.5–7 mm; calyx usually pink to magenta, campanulate, bilabiate, 3–4 mm, pilose, veins 5, slightly branched in lobes, tube 0.8–1 mm, lobes unequal, abaxial 3 lanceolate or linear, 0.8–1 mm, villous, adaxial 2 broadly triangular, 2.5–3 mm, orifice open; corolla creamy white, often pink-tinged, darkening in age, 4–4.5 mm, banner broadly ovate-rhombic, 4–4.5 × 3.8–4 mm, apex rounded, slightly erose. |
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Legumes | ovoid, 2–3.5 mm. |
oblong, 3–4 mm. |
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Seeds | (1 or)2–4, yellow-brown to brown, mitten-shaped or subglobose, 1.2–2 mm, smooth. |
2–4, yellow-brown to brown, globose to mitten-shaped, 1.1–1.6 mm, rugose. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Trifolium eriocephalum |
Trifolium carolinianum |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Sandy soils in dry fields, lawns, open woods, disturbed ground, rocky slopes. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–400 m. [0–1300 ft.] | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
w United States
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AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; KS; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; PA; SC; TX; VA
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Discussion | Subspecies 6 (6 in the flora). Trifolium eriocephalum was revised by J. M. Gillett (1971). The subspecies exhibit unusually complex distributional patterns, and overlapping morphological features sometimes make identifications problematic (M. Zohary and D. Heller 1984). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Trifolium arvense Walter (1788), a later homonym of T. arvense Linnaeus (1753), was considered a synonym of T. carolinianum by M. Zohary and D. Heller (1984). Trifolium repens Walter (1788, not Linnaeus 1753) is likely also a synonym of T. carolinianum. The record of the species from Vermont is a waif. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | Amoria caroliniana, T. oxypetalum, T. umbellatum | |||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Nuttall in J. Torrey and A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 313. (1838) | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 58. (1803) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Web links |