Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium bolanderi |
|
---|---|---|
big-head clover, large-head clover |
Bolander's clover, parasol clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs perennial, 15–30 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
ascending, cespitose, 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 ovate or lanceolate, 0.6–1.5 cm, margins entire, apex acute; petiole 1–7 cm; petiolules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades obcordate, obovate, or elliptic, 1–1.9 × 0.5–1.1 cm, base cuneate, veins fine to slightly thickened, margins setose, apex obtuse, rounded, or emarginate, apiculate, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
terminal, 12–30-flowered, ovoid, 1–2 × 1.5–3 cm, rachis prolonged beyond flowers, undivided or forked, often bearing sterile flower buds distally; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
slender, bent distally, just below flowers, 5–20 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
strongly reflexed, 1–1.2 mm; bracteoles minute, cuplike. |
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. |
12–14 mm; calyx deep violet, campanulate, gibbous, 3–5 mm, glabrous, veins 5, tube 1.5–2 mm, lobes unequal, triangular-subulate, orifice open; corolla lavender to purplish, 11–12 mm, banner curved, oblanceolate, 10–12 × 3–4 mm, apex narrow, rounded, slightly emarginate. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
ellipsoid, 3–4 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1 or 2, brown, ellipsoid, 1.2–1.5 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
|
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium bolanderi |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Meadows. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 2000–2300 m. [6600–7500 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 bolanderi is known from the Sierra Nevada in California and may be vulnerable to shifts in climate patterns. Genetic diversity of populations of the species (based on allozyme patterns) was found to be relatively high; two genetically distinct groups of populations are known (R. G. Denton 2002). (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) | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 335. (1868) |
Web links |