Trifolium gymnocarpon |
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hollyleaf clover, Nuttall's clover |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, 2–15 cm, pubescent. |
Stems | cespitose, numerous, short, branched from woody crown. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules ovate to lanceolate, 0.5–1.5 cm, margins entire or irregularly dentate, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 1.5–10 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3–5, blades ovate, obovate, oblong, or elliptic, 0.8–3 × 0.2–1.8 cm, base cuneate, veins thickened distally, margins spinose-dentate, apex rounded or acute, surfaces usually pubescent, sometimes glabrous adaxially. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 6–15-flowered, subglobose, 1–2 × 1.3–2.4 cm; involucres a narrow, membranous, dentate rim, 0.5 mm. |
Peduncles | 1–6.5 cm, ± surpassing leaves, not bent distally. |
Pedicels | erect, those of proximal flowers sometimes reflexed, 1–4 mm; bracteoles ovate-triangular, to 0.8 mm. |
Flowers | 7.5–13 mm; calyx tubular-campanulate, 4–7.5 mm, strigose, veins 10, tube 2–3 mm, lobes subequal, narrowly triangular, orifice open; corolla pink-purple, often with whitish tips, sometimes nearly wholly whitish, 7–12 mm, banner oblong, 7–14 × 5–7 mm, apex rounded, usually retuse. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
Seeds | 1, tan to brown, mitten-shaped, 3–4.5 mm, roughened. |
Trifolium gymnocarpon |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky slopes, clay or gumbo soils on plains. |
Elevation | 1500–3500 m. (4900–11500 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY
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Discussion | Two loosely differentiated varieties or subspecies of Trifolium gymnocarpon have sometimes been recognized: var. plummerae with three to five adaxially pilose leaflets, and var. gymnocarpon with three adaxially glabrous leaflets (J. M. Gillett 1972; D. Isely 1998). There is considerable overlap among characters, and other authors have rejected the distinction (M. Zohary and D. Heller 1984; R. C. Barneby 1989). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | T. gymnocarpon var. plummerae, T. gymnocarpon var. subcaulescens, T. nemorale, T. plummerae, T. subcaulescens |
Name authority | Nuttall in J. Torrey and A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 320. (1838) |
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