Trifolium gymnocarpon |
Trifolium kingii |
|
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hollyleaf clover, Nuttall's clover |
King's clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 2–15 cm, pubescent. | Herbs perennial, 2–40 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | cespitose, numerous, short, branched from woody crown. |
erect or ascending, branched from root stock. |
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. |
palmate; stipules lanceolate, 0.8–3 cm, margins entire, apex acuminate; petiole 0.8–15 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, 0.5–8 × 0.4–2.6 cm, basal blades thick, base cuneate, veins prominent, margins sharply serrate, those of basal leaves entire, sometimes shortly setose, apex acute, obtuse, or obcordate, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 6–15-flowered, subglobose, 1–2 × 1.3–2.4 cm; involucres a narrow, membranous, dentate rim, 0.5 mm. |
terminal or axillary, 20–35-flowered, inverted or horizontal, depressed-globose or obovoid, 1.5–3.2 × 1.5–3 cm, rachis internodes not especially elongated; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 1–6.5 cm, ± surpassing leaves, not bent distally. |
curved apically, 3–14 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, those of proximal flowers sometimes reflexed, 1–4 mm; bracteoles ovate-triangular, to 0.8 mm. |
reflexed, 0.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, blunt, minute. |
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. |
12–16 mm; calyx campanulate, 5–6 mm, usually sparsely pubescent, sometimes glabrate, veins 5, tube 2–3.5 mm, lobes equal, 1–1.5 times tube, subulate, curved, orifice open; corolla usually pink-purple, rarely white, 13–15 mm, banner lanceolate-ovate, 15–18 × 4–5 mm, apex rounded; ovaries glabrous. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
flattened, ellipsoid, 3–4 mm. |
Seeds | 1, tan to brown, mitten-shaped, 3–4.5 mm, roughened. |
1–3, brown, flattened ovoid, 2–2.2 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Trifolium gymnocarpon |
Trifolium kingii |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Jul–Aug. |
Habitat | Rocky slopes, clay or gumbo soils on plains. | Alpine meadows, stream banks, open aspen and spruce-fir woods. |
Elevation | 1500–3500 m. (4900–11500 ft.) | 2200–3300 m. (7200–10800 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY
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CO; NV; UT
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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.) |
Trifolium kingii is widely distributed throughout Utah (S. L. Welsh et al. 2008), is found in Mesa County southward to Dolores County in Colorado, and is found rarely in eastern Nevada. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | 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) | S. Watson: Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 59. (1871) |
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