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big-head clover, large-head clover

small white clover

Habit Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. Herbs annual, 10–60 cm, glabrous or glabrescent.
Stems

erect or ascending, branched.

usually erect or ascending, rarely prostrate, 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 triangular-lanceolate, 0.4–0.8 cm, margins entire, apex dark purple or reddish, sharply recurved, subulate;

petiole 0.5–10 cm;

petiolules 0.5 mm;

leaflets 3, blades obovate or obtriangular, 0.5–2.5 × 0.3–2.5 cm, base cuneate, veins fine, margins denticulate, apex rounded to emarginate, surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescences

terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm;

involucres absent.

axillary or terminal, 15–50-flowered, globose, 1–1.8 × 1–1.8 cm;

involucres a narrow rim, to 0.2 mm.

Peduncles

2–8 cm.

1.5–4 cm.

Pedicels

erect, 1–1.5 mm;

bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate.

reflexed in fruit, 3–6 mm;

bracteoles narrowly oblanceolate, 3–6.5 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.

6.5–9 mm;

calyx oblong, 3–5 mm, glabrous or pubescent, veins 5–10, tube 1–2.5 mm, lobes ± equal or unequal, triangular-lanceolate, recurved in fruit, margins green or purple, apex acute to acuminate, orifice open;

corolla pink or white, 6–9 mm, banner obovate-oblong, 6–9 × 1–2 mm, apex acute to emarginate.

Legumes

ovoid, 4–5 mm.

linear-oblong, 3–4.5 mm.

Seeds

1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth.

1–5, yellow or pale or dark brown, oblong, 1 mm, smooth.

2n

= 32, 48.

= 16.

Trifolium macrocephalum

Trifolium nigrescens

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering Mar–Oct.
Habitat Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. Roadsides, lawns, fields, waste places.
Elevation 80–2500 m. (300–8200 ft.) 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; TN; TX; s Europe; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
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 nigrescens was shown, using molecular markers, to consist of three subspecies and to hybridize readily with T. repens (W. M. Williams et al. 2001). It was first introduced as a potential crop species in the early 1950s and is cultivated widely in the southeastern United States as a forage crop and as a nitrogen source in roadside grass plantings (C. S. Hoveland 1960).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium
Sibling taxa
T. albopurpureum, T. alexandrinum, T. amoenum, T. amphianthum, T. andersonii, T. andinum, T. angustifolium, T. appendiculatum, T. arvense, T. attenuatum, T. aureum, T. barbigerum, T. barnebyi, T. beckwithii, T. bejariense, T. bifidum, T. bolanderi, T. brandegeei, T. breweri, T. buckwestiorum, T. calcaricum, T. campestre, T. carolinianum, T. cernuum, T. ciliolatum, T. columbinum, T. cyathiferum, T. dasyphyllum, T. dedeckerae, T. depauperatum, T. dichotomum, T. douglasii, T. dubium, T. echinatum, T. eriocephalum, T. fragiferum, T. friscanum, T. fucatum, T. glomeratum, T. gracilentum, T. grayi, T. gymnocarpon, T. haydenii, T. hirtum, T. howellii, T. hybridum, T. hydrophilum, T. incarnatum, T. jokerstii, T. kentuckiense, T. kingii, T. lappaceum, T. latifolium, T. leibergii, T. lemmonii, T. longipes, T. lupinaster, T. macilentum, T. macraei, T. medium, T. microcephalum, T. microdon, T. monanthum, T. mucronatum, T. nanum, T. nigrescens, T. obtusiflorum, T. oliganthum, T. ornithopodioides, T. owyheense, T. palmeri, T. parryi, T. pinetorum, T. piorkowskii, T. plumosum, T. polyodon, T. pratense, T. productum, T. reflexum, T. repens, T. resupinatum, T. retusum, T. rollinsii, T. siskiyouense, T. sonorense, T. stoloniferum, T. striatum, T. subterraneum, T. suffocatum, T. thompsonii, T. tomentosum, T. trichocalyx, T. variegatum, T. vesiculosum, T. virginicum, T. willdenovii, T. wormskioldii
T. albopurpureum, T. alexandrinum, T. amoenum, T. amphianthum, T. andersonii, T. andinum, T. angustifolium, T. appendiculatum, T. arvense, T. attenuatum, T. aureum, T. barbigerum, T. barnebyi, T. beckwithii, T. bejariense, T. bifidum, T. bolanderi, T. brandegeei, T. breweri, T. buckwestiorum, T. calcaricum, T. campestre, T. carolinianum, T. cernuum, T. ciliolatum, T. columbinum, T. cyathiferum, T. dasyphyllum, T. dedeckerae, T. depauperatum, T. dichotomum, T. douglasii, T. dubium, T. echinatum, T. eriocephalum, T. fragiferum, T. friscanum, T. fucatum, T. glomeratum, T. gracilentum, T. grayi, T. gymnocarpon, T. haydenii, T. hirtum, T. howellii, T. hybridum, T. hydrophilum, T. incarnatum, T. jokerstii, T. kentuckiense, T. kingii, T. lappaceum, T. latifolium, T. leibergii, T. lemmonii, T. longipes, T. lupinaster, T. macilentum, T. macraei, T. macrocephalum, T. medium, T. microcephalum, T. microdon, T. monanthum, T. mucronatum, T. nanum, T. obtusiflorum, T. oliganthum, T. ornithopodioides, T. owyheense, T. palmeri, T. parryi, T. pinetorum, T. piorkowskii, T. plumosum, T. polyodon, T. pratense, T. productum, T. reflexum, T. repens, T. resupinatum, T. retusum, T. rollinsii, T. siskiyouense, T. sonorense, T. stoloniferum, T. striatum, T. subterraneum, T. suffocatum, T. thompsonii, T. tomentosum, T. trichocalyx, T. variegatum, T. vesiculosum, T. virginicum, T. willdenovii, T. wormskioldii
Synonyms Lupinaster macrocephalum
Name authority (Pursh) Poiret in J. Lamarck et al.: Encycl., suppl. 5: 336. (1817) Viviani: Fl. Ital. Fragm., 12, plate 13. (1808)
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