Trifolium gracilentum |
Trifolium carolinianum |
|
---|---|---|
pin point clover, slender clover |
Carolina clover |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, 2–60 cm, glabrous. | Herbs annual, 5–30 cm, pilose. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
prostrate, ascending, or erect, branched. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules ovate-lanceolate, 0.5–2.5 cm, membranous, margins entire or slightly serrate, apex long-acuminate; petiole 0.5–9 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate to obcordate, 0.5–2.5 × 0.2–1.5 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately thickened, margins setose-serrulate, apex rounded, shallowly retuse, surfaces glabrous. |
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. |
Inflorescences | axillary or terminal, 10–25-flowered, globose to subglobose, 0.5–2 × 0.5–2 cm, rachis prolonged beyond flowers; involucres a narrow, membranous, dentate rim, to 0.5 mm. |
axillary or terminal, 5–40-flowered, globose, 1–2 × 1–2 cm; involucres minute. |
Peduncles | 1–9 cm. |
± geniculate proximal to flowers, inflorescence appearing sideways or inverted, 3.5–10 cm. |
Pedicels | becoming dramatically reflexed, 3–4 mm; bracteoles low, cuplike, membranous, to 0.5 mm. |
reflexed, 2–3 mm; bracteoles ovate or lanceolate, 0.5 mm. |
Flowers | 5–7.5 mm; calyx narrowly campanulate, 4.5–6.5 mm, glabrous, veins 10, tube 2–2.5 mm, lobes unequal, long-triangular, margins green or purple, orifice open; corolla white, pink, or purple, 5–8 mm, banner ovate, 5–8 × 3–4 mm, apex broadly rounded, retuse or apiculate. |
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. |
Legumes | ovoid-ellipsoid, 4–6 mm. |
oblong, 3–4 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, tan to brown, mitten-shaped, 1.1–1.5 mm, smooth. |
2–4, yellow-brown to brown, globose to mitten-shaped, 1.1–1.6 mm, rugose. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Trifolium gracilentum |
Trifolium carolinianum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Open, grassy areas, gravelly ridges, roadsides, adobe slopes, moist places. | Sandy soils in dry fields, lawns, open woods, disturbed ground, rocky slopes. |
Elevation | 50–1200 m. (200–3900 ft.) | 0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NV; OR; WA; Mexico (Baja California)
|
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; KS; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; PA; SC; TX; VA
|
Discussion | Abundance of Trifolium gracilentum increases in response to burns (J. M. DiTomaso et al. 1999). The record of Trifolium gracilentum from South Carolina is a waif. (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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | T. denudatum, T. exile, T. gracilentum var. exile, T. gracilentum var. inconspicuum, T. gracilentum var. reductum, T. inconspicuum | Amoria caroliniana, T. oxypetalum, T. umbellatum |
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 316. (1838) | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 58. (1803) |
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