Trifolium macraei |
Trifolium amphianthum |
|
---|---|---|
Chilean clover, Macrae's clover |
peanut clover |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, 3–30 cm, pubescent. | Herbs perennial, 10–25 cm, glabrous or glabrate. |
Stems | erect, ascending, or prostrate, branched. |
creeping, branched, rooting at nodes. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules ovate to oblong, 0.6–1 cm, margins entire, apex acuminate to cuspidate; petiole 0.5–6 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate, oblanceolate, or elliptic, 0.6–1.6 × 0.3–1.2 cm, base cuneate, veins obscure or slightly thickened, margins subentire to serrate, apex rounded, retuse, surfaces pubescent. |
palmate; stipules ovate-lanceolate, 0.5–1 cm, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 3–10 cm; petiolules 0.5–1 mm; leaflets 3, blades obcordate, 0.5–1.8 × 0.5–1.5 cm, base cuneate, veins thickened, margins entire or denticulate distally, apex usually deeply emarginate, rarely rounded, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal or subterminal, usually paired, sometimes one head slightly stalked, partially hidden by terminal leaves and stipules, 10–40-flowered, ovoid or subglobose, 0.8–2.5 × 0.5–2 cm; involucres absent, involucrelike structure formed from terminal leaves and stipules. |
axillary, 5–20-flowered, globose, 1–2.2 × 1–20 cm, chasmogamous erect, cleistogamous becoming subterranean; involucres formed of distinct, narrowly lanceolate bracts, 2.5–3.5 mm. |
Peduncles | 0–0.2 cm. |
chasmogamous 6–8 cm, cleistogamous ± sessile. |
Pedicels | absent; bracteoles broadly ovate to linear, 1–2 mm. |
reflexed in fruit, cleistogamous pushing fruit underground, chasmogamous 1–8 mm, cleistogamous 4–20 mm; bracteoles lanceolate, 2–4 mm. |
Flowers | 5.5–7.5 mm; calyx tubular, 4–5 mm, pubescent, veins 5–10, tube 1.5–2 mm, lobes subequal, subulate, orifice open; corolla usually purple or pink, rarely white, 5–7 mm, banner obovate-oblong, 6–7 × 2–3 mm, apex rounded, slightly denticulate. |
chasmogamous 8–11 mm, cleistogamous 4–5 mm; calyx campanulate, 3–5 mm, slightly pilose, veins 10, tube 1.5–2 mm, lobes subequal, adaxial pair connate proximally, sometimes nearly entire length, narrowly triangular-subulate, orifice open; corolla magenta or pink, 7.5–11 mm, banner broadly obovate-elliptic, 5–10 × 5–8 mm, apex rounded, emarginate. |
Legumes | oblong, 2.5–3 mm. |
stipitate, chasmogamous ellipsoid, cleistogamous ovoid-globose, chasmogamous longitudinally dehiscent, 3–6 mm, cleistogamous indehiscent, 3–6 mm. |
Seeds | 1, yellow, mottled, ellipsoid, 1.6–2 mm, smooth. |
2–6 (chasmogamous), 1–3 (cleistogamous), tan, mitten-shaped, 1.2–1.5 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16, 32. |
Trifolium macraei |
Trifolium amphianthum |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Grassy fields, sandy ocean bluffs. | Sandy soils, prairies. |
Elevation | 0–800 m. (0–2600 ft.) | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; South America (Chile)
|
LA; TX |
Discussion | Trifolium macraei was described from specimens collected in Chile; the South American plants have broader banners, smaller auricles on the wing petals, and styles that are barely curved upwards distally (D. Isely 1998). Further examination of the disjunct populations may reveal other differences and prompt reconsideration of the identity of North American specimens. The record from Massachusetts is a waif. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Trifolium amphianthum ranges in east-central Texas from Aransas County northward to Denton County, and eastward to San Augustine and Shelby counties; it is also recorded from Natchitoches and Rapides parishes in Louisiana. Trifolium amphianthum was collected once in Arkansas, but the specimen may have been from cultivation. The name Trifolium polymorphum Poiret applies to plants found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay and has been misapplied to this North American endemic, as was done by M. Zohary and D. Heller (1984). Trifolium amphianthum is distinguished from T. polymorphum by its much larger leaves and flowers and essentially glabrous leaves and peduncles. (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. bicephalum, T. catalinae, T. mercedense, T. traskiae | T. roemerianum |
Name authority | Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Misc. 3: 179. (1833) | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 316. (1838) |
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