Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium amoenum |
|
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big-head clover, large-head clover |
showy Indian clover, two-fork clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs annual, 45–65 cm, canescent. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
erect, branched from base and distally, or unbranched. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules ovate, obovate, or oblong, 1–3 cm, margins entire, irregularly lobed, or serrate, apex acute or acuminate; petiole 1–14 cm; petiolules 0.9–1.2 mm; leaflets (5–)7–9, blades broadly to narrowly obovate, often folded, 1–2.7 × 0.4–1.1 cm, base cuneate, veins thickened, especially distally, margins serrulate, apex rounded or truncate, apiculate, surfaces villous abaxially, sparsely villous to glabrate adaxially. |
palmate; stipules ovate-oblong, 0.5–1.8 cm, margins entire, toothed, or irregularly lobed, apex acuminate; petiole 0.5–10 cm; petiolules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades broadly obovate or elliptic, 1.7–3.3 × 1.1–2 cm, base cuneate, veins fine, margins entire or denticulate, apex rounded, obtuse, or retuse, surfaces pilose, abaxial less so. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
terminal or axillary, 30–50-flowered, bluntly conic, ellipsoid, globose, or subglobose, 1.5–3 × 1.5–2.5 cm; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
5–15 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
absent; bracteoles cuplike, to 0.5 mm. |
Flowers | 20–30 mm; calyx campanulate, 10–22 mm, villous, veins 10–15, tube 2.5–4 mm, lobes subequal, subulate, plumose, orifice open; corolla white, creamy white, or pinkish, keel petals deep pink, 20–28 mm, banner ovate or oblong, 20–28 × 10–13 mm, apex rounded or slightly emarginate. |
13–16 mm; calyx tubular, 9–12 mm, pubescent, veins 20–30, tube 3 mm, lobes nearly equal, appearing rigidly erect, linear-setaceous, plumose, sinuses acute, orifice open; corolla white to pink with purple tips, 12–16 mm, banner ovate-oblong, 12–15 × 4 mm, apex broadly rounded, emarginate. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
obovoid, 4 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1, dark brown, ellipsoid, 2–3 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
|
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium amoenum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Apr–May. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Grassy slopes, swales, clay soils. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 0–100 m. [0–300 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
|
CA
|
Discussion | Trifolium macrocephalum has the largest inflorescences of any clover. Trifolium megacephalum Nuttall (1818) is an illegitimate replacement name for Lupinaster macrocephalum Pursh. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Trifolium amoenum was considered extinct (J. P. Smith Jr. 1984) but was rediscovered in 1993 (P. G. Connors 1994). Specimens of T. amoenum are known from Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Solano, and Sonoma counties; it appears to be extant in only single populations in each of Marin and Solano counties. Allozyme studies of the two known populations revealed fixed genetic differences between them (E. E. Knapp and Connors 1999). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Lupinaster macrocephalum | |
Name authority | (Pursh) Poiret in J. Lamarck et al.: Encycl., suppl. 5: 336. (1817) | Greene: Fl. Francisc., 27. (1891) |
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