Trifolium gracilentum |
Trifolium medium |
|
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pin point clover, slender clover |
trèfle flexueux, zigzag clover |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, 2–60 cm, glabrous. | Herbs perennial, 20–70 cm, strigose. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
erect-ascending, flexuous, often zigzag, 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 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, 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. |
terminal or axillary, rarely paired, 20–50-flowered, globose or ovoid, 1.5–4 × 1.3–3.8 cm; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 1–9 cm. |
1–3 cm. |
Pedicels | becoming dramatically reflexed, 3–4 mm; bracteoles low, cuplike, membranous, to 0.5 mm. |
straight, 0.5 mm; bracteoles absent. |
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. |
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 | ovoid-ellipsoid, 4–6 mm. |
ovoid to globose, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 2–3 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, tan to brown, mitten-shaped, 1.1–1.5 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 gracilentum |
Trifolium medium |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | Flowering May–Aug. |
Habitat | Open, grassy areas, gravelly ridges, roadsides, adobe slopes, moist places. | Fields, roadsides. |
Elevation | 50–1200 m. (200–3900 ft.) | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NV; OR; WA; Mexico (Baja California)
|
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 | 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 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 | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | T. denudatum, T. exile, T. gracilentum var. exile, T. gracilentum var. inconspicuum, T. gracilentum var. reductum, T. inconspicuum | |
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 316. (1838) | Linnaeus: Amoen. Acad. 4: 105. (1759) |
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