Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium nanum |
|
---|---|---|
big-head clover, large-head clover |
dwarf clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs perennial, 4–10 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
cespitose, matted, acaulescent. |
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-lanceolate, 1–2 cm, margins entire, apex acuminate, sometimes forked; petiole 0.3–2.5 cm; petiolules to 0.2 mm; leaflets 3, blades oblanceolate or obovate, 0.3–1.2 × 0.1–0.5 cm, base cuneate, veins ± thickened, margins toothed, apex acute or acuminate, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
terminal or axillary, 1–4-flowered, umbellate, 1.5–2 × 0.5–1 cm, rachis not prolonged beyond flowers; involucres a narrow, membranous, dentate rim, 1 mm. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
0.5–3 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
erect, 1 mm; bracteoles cuplike, membranous, 0.5–1 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. |
15–20 mm; calyx campanulate, 4–7 mm, glabrous, veins 5–10, tube 3–4 mm, lobes equal, triangular-acuminate, orifice open; corolla purple or violet, 15–20 mm, banner oblong, 15–20 × 7–9 mm, apex rounded, slightly retuse. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
oblanceoloid, 9–11 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
4–6, tan or brown, mitten-shaped, 2–2.2 mm, smooth, dull. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
= 16. |
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium nanum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Alpine slopes, tundra. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 2600–4500 m. [8500–14800 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.) |
Trifolium nanum is abundant in alpine tundra areas from Montana through Wyoming and Utah into Colorado (where it is most common) and northern New Mexico; populations are morphologically variable with regard to leaf size and petiole length, and this variability appears to be related to water availability (J. M. Gillett 1965). (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) | Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 1: 35, plate 3, fig. 4. (1824) |
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