Trifolium hirtum |
Trifolium polyodon |
|
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rose clover |
Pacific grove clover, woods or Pacific grove clover |
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Habit | Herbs annual, 10–35 cm, densely spreading-hairy. | Herbs annual, 10–60 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | curved-ascending, branched. |
decumbent or ascending, branched. |
Leaves | 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. |
palmate; stipules lanceolate to ovate, 0.4–1.8 cm, margins lacerate, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 0.5–6 cm; petiolules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades broadly elliptic to broadly obovate, 0.4–2.5 × 0.4–1.5 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately thickened, margins dentate-serrulate, apex rounded or truncate, often retuse, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | 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. |
axillary, 10–25-flowered, subglobose or globose, 1–1.8 × 1–1.8 cm; involucres flattened or bowl-shaped, 4–7 mm, incised 1/2 their length, when folded, not hiding flowers except proximally, lobes 5–12, dentate-lacerate, spinulose. |
Peduncles | absent. |
1–2 cm. |
Pedicels | absent; bracteoles absent. |
straight, to 1 mm; bracteoles absent. |
Flowers | 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. |
8–10 mm; calyx campanulate-tubular, not slit between adaxial lobes, 5–7 mm, glabrous, veins 20, tube 1.9–2.4 mm, lobes unequal, 3-fid or laciniate, often appearing 7+-lobed, orifice open; corolla pink or pale purple, 8–9 mm, banner elliptic, 8–9 × 2–3 mm, apex retuse. |
Legumes | ovoid, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 2–3 mm. |
ellipsoid, 3.5–4 mm. |
Seeds | 1, tan or brown, globose-ellipsoid, 1.5–2 mm, smooth, glossy. |
2, dark brown, mottled, ovoid or reniform, 1.7–1.9 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 10. |
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Trifolium hirtum |
Trifolium polyodon |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Fields, roadsides. | Along streams, moist meadows. |
Elevation | 0–2100 m. (0–6900 ft.) | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; CA; FL; LA; NC; OR; TN; VA; s Europe; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in s Africa, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
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CA |
Discussion | 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.) |
The taxonomic status of Trifolium polyodon, known only from Monterey County, has long been debated. W. L. Jepson (1936) considered it a variety of T. tridentatum Lindley (= T. willdenovii). The first to consider it as a variety of T. variegatum was J. S. Martin (1943), who never formally published a new combination; an invalid combination was made by M. Zohary and D. Heller (1984). D. Isely (1998) included it in his interpretation of T. variegatum as phase 5 of that species; he speculated that T. polyodon might have originated as a hybrid of T. variegatum and T. willdenovii. Molecular studies (N. W. Ellison et al. 2006) showed that T. polyodon is closely related to T. variegatum but is distinct; it also appears to be related to T. cyathiferum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | T. tridentatum var. polyodon | |
Name authority | Allioni: Auct. Fl. Pedem., 20. (1789) | Greene: Pittonia 3: 215. (1897) |
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