Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium dasyphyllum |
|
---|---|---|
big-head clover, large-head clover |
alpine clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs perennial, 5–20 cm, appressed-pubescent. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
cespitose, branched, numerous short stems. |
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-linear, 1.5–2 cm, margins entire, apex acuminate; petiole 0.6–3.5 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades oblong-elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, sometimes folded, 0.6–3.2 × 0.2–0.6 cm, base cuneate, veins obscure, margins entire, apex acute, surfaces glabrous or hairy. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
axillary or terminal, 5–16-flowered, globose, 1.5–3.5 × 1.2–3.3 cm; involucres formed of proximal bracteoles, bases sometimes connate. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
2–17 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
erect, 1.5–2 mm; bracteoles linear-lanceolate, scarious, 2–6 mm, or scalelike. |
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. |
12–16 mm; calyx campanulate, 6–9 mm, pubescent, veins 10, tube 2–5 mm, lobes unequal, linear-subulate, orifice open; corolla often bicolored cream and violet, sometimes all red-purple or violet, 1.2–1.6 mm, banner broadly elliptic-ovate, 11–15 × 4–5 mm, folded distally, apex rounded, apiculate; ovaries pubescent distally. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
oblong, 4–6 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1–3, dark brown, ovoid-reniform, 2–2.5 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
= 16. |
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium dasyphyllum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Alpine meadows, rocky slopes. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 2100–4100 m. [6900–13500 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
|
CO; MT; NM; UT; WY
|
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.) |
Three subspecies of Trifolium dasyphyllum were recognized by J. M. Gillett (1965), but he commented on the overlap in diagnostic characters of the subspecies. In their monograph of Trifolium, M. Zohary and D. Heller (1984) mirrored the treatment by Gillett, and also commented on intermediacy of characters in some specimens. The subspecies were not accepted by R. D. Dorn (1988), citing extensive intergradation, or by R. C. Barneby (1989), citing variability within T. dasyphyllum that is not linked with distribution or other morphological features. Trifolium dasyphyllum is found from eastern Utah and from Santa Fe County in New Mexico northward through central Colorado to central and northwestern Wyoming and Cascade, Gallatin, and Madison counties in Montana. (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. anemophilum, T. dasyphyllum subsp. anemophilum, T. dasyphyllum subsp. uintense, T. dasyphyllum var. uintense, T. lividum, T. scariosum, T. uintense |
Name authority | (Pursh) Poiret in J. Lamarck et al.: Encycl., suppl. 5: 336. (1817) | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 315. (1838) |
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