Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium lappaceum |
|
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big-head clover, large-head clover |
burdock clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs annual, 5–60 cm, hirsute or glabrous. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
erect to decumbent, 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 oblong, 0.5–1.9 cm, margins entire, apex lanceolate-subulate; petiole 0.3–5 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades ovate to obovate, 0.5–1.5 × 0.3–2 cm, base cuneate, veins fine, margins denticulate to dentate, apex rounded, truncate, or emarginate, surfaces hirsute. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
terminal, 40–60-flowered, globose or ovoid, burlike, not disarticulating at maturity, 1–1.4 × 1.8–2 cm; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
0.1–0.7 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
straight, 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. |
7–9 mm; calyx campanulate, 7–9 mm, glabrous, veins 20, tube 3 mm, lobes equal, longer than tube, setaceous becoming spinose, orifice hairy, open; corolla pinkish white, 6–10 mm, banner elliptic, 6–9 × 1.5–2 mm, apex emarginate. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
ovoid, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 1.5 mm, long-beaked. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1, light brown, reddish, or yellow with reddish spots, ovoid, 1 mm, smooth, shiny. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
= 16. |
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium lappaceum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Fields, roadsides, grassy areas. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 0–300 m. [0–1000 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
|
AL; FL; LA; MS; NC; NJ; PA; SC; TN; TX; s Europe; w Asia; n Africa; Atlantic Islands (Canary Islands) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in s South America (Uruguay), s Africa, 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 lappaceum was introduced to the United States about 1903; it has been used as a winter annual pasture and hay crop (E. A. Hollowell 1939), as well as in roadside grass plantings as a nitrogen source. (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) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 768. (1753) |
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