Trifolium lappaceum |
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burdock clover |
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Habit | Herbs annual, 5–60 cm, hirsute or glabrous. |
Stems | erect to decumbent, branched. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules oblong, 0.5–1.9 cm, margins entire, apex lanceolate-subulate; petiole 0.3–5 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades ovate to obovate, 0.5–1.5 × 0.3–2 cm, base cuneate, veins fine, margins denticulate to dentate, apex rounded, truncate, or emarginate, surfaces hirsute. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 40–60-flowered, globose or ovoid, burlike, not disarticulating at maturity, 1–1.4 × 1.8–2 cm; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 0.1–0.7 cm. |
Pedicels | straight, 0.5 mm; bracteoles absent. |
Flowers | 7–9 mm; calyx campanulate, 7–9 mm, glabrous, veins 20, tube 3 mm, lobes equal, longer than tube, setaceous becoming spinose, orifice hairy, open; corolla pinkish white, 6–10 mm, banner elliptic, 6–9 × 1.5–2 mm, apex emarginate. |
Legumes | ovoid, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 1.5 mm, long-beaked. |
Seeds | 1, light brown, reddish, or yellow with reddish spots, ovoid, 1 mm, smooth, shiny. |
2n | = 16. |
Trifolium lappaceum |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Fields, roadsides, grassy areas. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; LA; MS; NC; NJ; PA; SC; TN; TX; s Europe; w Asia; n Africa; Atlantic Islands (Canary Islands) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in s South America (Uruguay), s Africa, Australia]
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Discussion | Trifolium lappaceum was introduced to the United States about 1903; it has been used as a winter annual pasture and hay crop (E. A. Hollowell 1939), as well as in roadside grass plantings as a nitrogen source. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | |
Sibling taxa | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 768. (1753) |
Web links |