Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium appendiculatum |
|
---|---|---|
big-head clover, large-head clover |
large white-tip clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs annual, 7–80+ cm, glabrous. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
ascending or erect, 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 lanceolate or ovate, 0.3–1.3 cm, margins lacerate, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 2–7.3 cm; petiolules to 0.9 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate-obcordate, elliptic, or obovate, 0.3–2.6 × 0.2–1.1 cm, base cuneate, veins thickened, margins denticulate, apex acute or retuse, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
axillary, 4–25-flowered, subglobose or globose, 0.7–2 × 0.8–3 cm; involucres flat, 3.2–6.5 mm, incised 1/2 their length, lobes 4–7, lacerate. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
1.7–7.5 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
straight, to 0.5 mm; bracteoles absent. |
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. |
7–25 mm; calyx campanulate, not slit between adaxial lobes, 3.5–7.4 mm, glabrous, veins 10–20, tube 1.5–3.3 mm, lobes subequal, narrowly triangular, margins usually entire, orifice open; corolla deep purple, usually white-tipped, 6.5–17 mm, banner obovate, 6.3–16 × 1.5–4 mm, apex emarginate. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
oblong or ellipsoid, 3.6–3.8 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
2, blackish brown, mottled, ovoid or ellipsoid, 1.9–2.8 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
= 16. |
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium appendiculatum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Coastal areas, foothills, mountain meadows, ditches, wet areas. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 0–1400 m. [0–4600 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
|
CA; OR |
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 appendiculatum is found throughout California, although never east of the Sierra Nevada, and into southern Oregon. (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. appendiculatum var. rostratum, T. calophyllum, T. morleyanum, T. phaeocephalum, T. rostratum, T. splendens, T. trilobatum, T. variegatum var. major, T. variegatum var. rostratum, T. variegatum var. trilobatum |
Name authority | (Pursh) Poiret in J. Lamarck et al.: Encycl., suppl. 5: 336. (1817) | Lojacono: Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital. 15: 181. (1883) |
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