Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium andinum |
|
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big-head clover, large-head clover |
Great Divide clover, intermountain clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs perennial, 5–15 cm, pubescent. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
erect or ascending, cespitose, much-branched. |
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 oblanceolate, 0.5–1.4 cm, margins entire, apex acute-acuminate; petiole 0.5–4 cm; petiolules to 0.1 mm; leaflets 3, blades oblanceolate, often folded, 0.4–1.5 × 0.2–0.4 cm, base cuneate, veins obscure, margins subentire to denticulate distally, apex acute, mucronulate, surfaces villous. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
terminal, usually formed of 2 sessile heads, 15–25-flowered, globose, 0.8–2 × 0.6–1.5 cm; involucres absent, distal stipules and leaves sometimes forming involucrelike structure. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
between distal leaves or involucrelike structure and inflorescences 0.5–6 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
straight, (0–)1–2 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, truncate, membranous, 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. |
10–15 mm; calyx tubular-campanulate, 6–9 mm, rough-hairy or glabrous, veins 10, tube 3–6 mm, lobes subequal, subulate, orifice open; corolla light purple, 10–15 mm, banner oblong, 9–13 × 3–4 mm, apex rounded or truncate; ovaries pubescent distally. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
ellipsoid, 4–5 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1 or 2, brown, ovoid, 1.5–2 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
|
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium andinum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Shale or clay bluffs and hilltops, crevices of volcanic or limestone rock, pinyon-juniper belt. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 1600–2300 m. [5200–7500 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
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AZ; CO; NM; NV; UT; WY
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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 andinum ranges from central and southern Nevada into west-central Utah, north-central Arizona to southeastern Utah, north-central New Mexico, and northeastern Utah into southwestern Wyoming. Differentiation of T. andinum into subspecific taxa proved impossible, since no consistent gaps in morphological traits could be found. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Lupinaster macrocephalum | T. andinum var. canone, T. andinum var. navajoense, T. andinum var. podocephalum, T. andinum var. wahwahense |
Name authority | (Pursh) Poiret in J. Lamarck et al.: Encycl., suppl. 5: 336. (1817) | Nuttall in J. Torrey and A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 314. (1838) |
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