Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium gymnocarpon |
|
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big-head clover, large-head clover |
hollyleaf clover, Nuttall's clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs perennial, 2–15 cm, pubescent. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
cespitose, numerous, short, branched from woody crown. |
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 to lanceolate, 0.5–1.5 cm, margins entire or irregularly dentate, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 1.5–10 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3–5, blades ovate, obovate, oblong, or elliptic, 0.8–3 × 0.2–1.8 cm, base cuneate, veins thickened distally, margins spinose-dentate, apex rounded or acute, surfaces usually pubescent, sometimes glabrous adaxially. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
terminal, 6–15-flowered, subglobose, 1–2 × 1.3–2.4 cm; involucres a narrow, membranous, dentate rim, 0.5 mm. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
1–6.5 cm, ± surpassing leaves, not bent distally. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
erect, those of proximal flowers sometimes reflexed, 1–4 mm; bracteoles ovate-triangular, to 0.8 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. |
7.5–13 mm; calyx tubular-campanulate, 4–7.5 mm, strigose, veins 10, tube 2–3 mm, lobes subequal, narrowly triangular, orifice open; corolla pink-purple, often with whitish tips, sometimes nearly wholly whitish, 7–12 mm, banner oblong, 7–14 × 5–7 mm, apex rounded, usually retuse. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1, tan to brown, mitten-shaped, 3–4.5 mm, roughened. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
|
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium gymnocarpon |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Rocky slopes, clay or gumbo soils on plains. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 1500–3500 m. [4900–11500 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
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AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; 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.) |
Two loosely differentiated varieties or subspecies of Trifolium gymnocarpon have sometimes been recognized: var. plummerae with three to five adaxially pilose leaflets, and var. gymnocarpon with three adaxially glabrous leaflets (J. M. Gillett 1972; D. Isely 1998). There is considerable overlap among characters, and other authors have rejected the distinction (M. Zohary and D. Heller 1984; R. C. Barneby 1989). (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. gymnocarpon var. plummerae, T. gymnocarpon var. subcaulescens, T. nemorale, T. plummerae, T. subcaulescens |
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: 320. (1838) |
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