Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium hirtum |
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big-head clover, large-head clover |
rose clover |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs annual, 10–35 cm, densely spreading-hairy. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
curved-ascending, 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-ovate, 0.8–1.8 cm, margins entire, apex long-setaceous; petiole 0.5–5 cm; petiolules 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate to oblong, 0.8–2.5 × 0.5–1.3 cm, base cuneate, veins prominent, closely-spaced, margins denticulate distally, apex rounded, surfaces densely spreading-hairy. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
terminal on branches, 10–50-flowered, globose or ovoid, disarticulating in fruit, 1.5–2.5 × 1.5–2.5 cm; involucres absent, involucrelike structures formed by enlarged stipules. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
absent. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
absent; 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. |
10–17 mm; calyx campanulate, 7–11 mm, pilose, veins 20, tube 2–5 mm, lobes subequal, abaxial slightly longer, orifice hairy, open; corolla purplish red, 10–14 mm, banner lanceolate, 10–14 × 1–2 mm, apex acute-acuminate. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
ovoid, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 2–3 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1, tan or brown, globose-ellipsoid, 1.5–2 mm, smooth, glossy. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
= 10. |
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium hirtum |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Fields, roadsides. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 0–2100 m. [0–6900 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
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AL; CA; FL; LA; NC; OR; TN; VA; s Europe; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in s Africa, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
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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 hirtum was first cultivated in California in the 1940s as a forage plant and as a nitrogen source in roadside grass plantings (R. M. Love 1985); it is now widespread in that state. It was reported for Kentucky by D. Isely (1998); no non-cultivated specimens have been seen from that state (M. A. Vincent 2001). (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) | Allioni: Auct. Fl. Pedem., 20. (1789) |
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