Trifolium hirtum
rose clover
curved-ascending, branched.
palmate;
stipules lanceolate-ovate, 0.8–1.8 cm, margins entire, apex long-setaceous;
petiole 0.5–5 cm;
petiolules 0.5 mm;
leaflets 3, blades obovate to oblong, 0.8–2.5 × 0.5–1.3 cm, base cuneate, veins prominent, closely-spaced, margins denticulate distally, apex rounded, surfaces densely spreading-hairy.
terminal on branches, 10–50-flowered, globose or ovoid, disarticulating in fruit, 1.5–2.5 × 1.5–2.5 cm;
involucres absent, involucrelike structures formed by enlarged stipules.
absent.
absent;
bracteoles absent.
10–17 mm;
calyx campanulate, 7–11 mm, pilose, veins 20, tube 2–5 mm, lobes subequal, abaxial slightly longer, orifice hairy, open;
corolla purplish red, 10–14 mm, banner lanceolate, 10–14 × 1–2 mm, apex acute-acuminate.
ovoid, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 2–3 mm.
1, tan or brown, globose-ellipsoid, 1.5–2 mm, smooth, glossy.
= 10.
Trifolium hirtum
Trifolium hirtum was first cultivated in California in the 1940s as a forage plant and as a nitrogen source in roadside grass plantings (R. M. Love 1985); it is now widespread in that state. It was reported for Kentucky by D. Isely (1998); no non-cultivated specimens have been seen from that state (M. A. Vincent 2001).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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