Trifolium eriocephalum |
Trifolium resupinatum |
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woolly-head clover |
Persian clover, reversed clover |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, 12–46 cm, sparsely hairy to densely villous, appressed-pubescent, or glabrate. | Herbs annual, 20–60 cm, glabrous or glabrescent. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | erect or decumbent, branched. |
ascending, erect, or procumbent, 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 lanceolate or ovate, 0.5–1.8 cm, margins entire, apex acuminate-filiform; petiole 0.5–20 cm; petiolules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate, ovate, elliptic, or rhombic, 1–3 × 0.5–3 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately prominent, margins spinulose-dentate, apex rounded or broadly acute, surfaces hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
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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, 15–30-flowered, subglobose to globose, flowers resupinate, forming stellate-spreading clusters in fruit, 0.5–1.6 × 0.8–1.5 cm; involucres a narrow rim, 0.2 mm. |
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Peduncles | bent distally, proximal to flowers, 3–18 cm. |
1–6 cm. |
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Pedicels | reflexed, to 0.3 mm; bracteoles absent. |
slightly reflexed, to 0.5 mm; bracteoles minute or absent. |
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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. |
5–6 mm; calyx tubular-campanulate, inflated in fruit, markedly asymmetric-bilabiate, slit between adaxial lobes, 2.5–3 mm, 8–11 mm in fruit, hairy, short-hairy or glabrescent in fruit, veins 10, connected by lateral veins, tube 2 mm, 7–9 mm in fruit, lobes green, erect, unequal, triangular, divergent, linear-lanceolate, unequal in fruit, orifice open; corolla pink to purple, 5–8 mm, banner oblong, 5–8 × 2 mm, apex emarginate to crenulate. |
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Legumes | ovoid, 2–3.5 mm. |
lenticular, 1.8–2.2 mm. |
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Seeds | (1 or)2–4, yellow-brown to brown, mitten-shaped or subglobose, 1.2–2 mm, smooth. |
1, ovoid, dark purple, olive green, yellow, or reddish brown, 1.5–1.9 mm, smooth, dull. |
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2n | = 14, 16, 32. |
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Trifolium eriocephalum |
Trifolium resupinatum |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–May. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Wet meadows, lawns, roadsides, fields, waste places. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–700 m. [0–2300 ft.] | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
w United States
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AL; AR; CA; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; ND; OH; OK; OR; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; ON; c Europe; s Europe; sw Asia; n Africa; introduced also in s South America (Argentina, Uruguay); s Africa; Pacific Islands (Hawaii, New Zealand); Australia [Introduced in North America]
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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.) |
Widespread use of Trifolium resupinatum as a forage crop began in the late 1920s, after it began to flourish in Louisiana following a flood of the Mississippi River (E. A. Hollowell 1943). It is used in the southern United States as a pasture plant and for production of hay, and has spread widely from cultivation. Reports of Trifolium resupinatum for New Brunswick and Quebec are based on old collections; since the species has not been recollected for many years in either province, they are excluded here. (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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Nuttall in J. Torrey and A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 313. (1838) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 771. (1753) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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