Trifolium macraei |
Trifolium fragiferum |
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Chilean clover, Macrae's clover |
strawberry clover |
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Habit | Herbs annual, 3–30 cm, pubescent. | Herbs perennial, 5–50 cm, pubescent or glabrous. |
Stems | erect, ascending, or prostrate, branched. |
prostrate or 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 linear or lanceolate, dilated proximally, 1.3–2 cm, margins entire, apex subulate or acuminate; petiole 1–9 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades ovate, obovate, or elliptic, 0.5–3 × 0.3–1.5 cm, base cuneate, veins prominent, thickened, curved, margins spinulose-denticulate, apex obtuse, often retuse, surfaces hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
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, erect or ascending, 10–30-flowered, globose, 0.8–2 × 0.8–2 cm; involucres cup-shaped, composed of bracteoles, bracteoles lanceolate-oblong, 3–6 mm, distinct or connate proximally. |
Peduncles | 0–0.2 cm. |
3–17 cm. |
Pedicels | absent; bracteoles broadly ovate to linear, 1–2 mm. |
straight, to 0.5 mm; bracteoles linear or lanceolate, 2–3 mm, acuminate or 2-fid. |
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. |
6–8 mm; calyx tubular, inflated in fruit, markedly asymmetric-bilabiate, 2.5–7 mm, usually pilose to woolly, sometimes glabrescent, veins 5–10, connected by reticulating lateral veins, tube 2–7 mm, lobes unequal, abaxial equal to or longer than tube, straight, adaxial spreading in fruit, shorter than tube, very unequal in fruit, orifice open; corolla white to pink, 5–8 mm, banner oblong-lancelate, 5–8 × 2 mm, apex emarginate to crenulate. |
Legumes | oblong, 2.5–3 mm. |
ovoid, 2.5–3 mm, long-beaked. |
Seeds | 1, yellow, mottled, ellipsoid, 1.6–2 mm, smooth. |
1 or 2, tan or brown-spotted, globose-reniform, 1–1.4 mm, smooth, dull. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Trifolium macraei |
Trifolium fragiferum |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Nov. |
Habitat | Grassy fields, sandy ocean bluffs. | Meadows, fields, roadsides, sandy and saline soils. |
Elevation | 0–800 m. (0–2600 ft.) | 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; South America (Chile)
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AZ; CA; CO; GA; IA; ID; IL; KS; MA; MN; MT; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; SD; UT; WA; WI; WY; BC; ON; c Europe; s Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in s South America, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
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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 fragiferum is cultivated for pastures and in mixtures with grass for hay and silage and, to a lesser extent, as groundcover in orchards and vineyards and as a green manure cover crop (L. St. John et al. 2010). It appears to have been introduced accidentally in the 1870s and as a crop around 1900 (E. A. Hollowell 1939). (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 | Amoria bonannii, T. bonannii, T. fragiferum subsp. bonannii |
Name authority | Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Misc. 3: 179. (1833) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 772. (1753) |
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