Trifolium gracilentum |
Trifolium nanum |
|
---|---|---|
pin point clover, slender clover |
dwarf clover |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, 2–60 cm, glabrous. | Herbs perennial, 4–10 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
cespitose, matted, acaulescent. |
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-lanceolate, 1–2 cm, margins entire, apex acuminate, sometimes forked; petiole 0.3–2.5 cm; petiolules to 0.2 mm; leaflets 3, blades oblanceolate or obovate, 0.3–1.2 × 0.1–0.5 cm, base cuneate, veins ± thickened, margins toothed, apex acute or acuminate, surfaces glabrous. |
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, 1–4-flowered, umbellate, 1.5–2 × 0.5–1 cm, rachis not prolonged beyond flowers; involucres a narrow, membranous, dentate rim, 1 mm. |
Peduncles | 1–9 cm. |
0.5–3 cm. |
Pedicels | becoming dramatically reflexed, 3–4 mm; bracteoles low, cuplike, membranous, to 0.5 mm. |
erect, 1 mm; bracteoles cuplike, membranous, 0.5–1 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. |
15–20 mm; calyx campanulate, 4–7 mm, glabrous, veins 5–10, tube 3–4 mm, lobes equal, triangular-acuminate, orifice open; corolla purple or violet, 15–20 mm, banner oblong, 15–20 × 7–9 mm, apex rounded, slightly retuse. |
Legumes | ovoid-ellipsoid, 4–6 mm. |
oblanceoloid, 9–11 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, tan to brown, mitten-shaped, 1.1–1.5 mm, smooth. |
4–6, tan or brown, mitten-shaped, 2–2.2 mm, smooth, dull. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Trifolium gracilentum |
Trifolium nanum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Open, grassy areas, gravelly ridges, roadsides, adobe slopes, moist places. | Alpine slopes, tundra. |
Elevation | 50–1200 m. (200–3900 ft.) | 2600–4500 m. (8500–14800 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NV; OR; WA; Mexico (Baja California)
|
CO; MT; NM; UT; WY
|
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 nanum is abundant in alpine tundra areas from Montana through Wyoming and Utah into Colorado (where it is most common) and northern New Mexico; populations are morphologically variable with regard to leaf size and petiole length, and this variability appears to be related to water availability (J. M. Gillett 1965). (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) | Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 1: 35, plate 3, fig. 4. (1824) |
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