Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium owyheense |
|
---|---|---|
big-head clover, large-head clover |
Owyhee clover |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs perennial, 10–20 cm, glaucous, glabrous. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
cespitose, spreading, branched proximally, sparsely branched distally. |
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 broadly obovate, 1–2 cm, fused at base, margins slightly lobed, apex acute; petiole 2–6 cm; petiolules 1–1.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades ovate, obovate, or orbiculate, slightly overlapping, 1–2 × 0.7–2.3 cm, base truncate to rounded, veins prominent, margins sparsely dentate, apex rounded, emarginate, surfaces glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
terminal, 20–30-flowered, globose, usually formed of 2 sessile heads, 2.5–5 × 2.5–5 cm; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
3–7 cm, surpassing subtending leaves. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
erect, reflexed in proximalmost flowers, 1 mm; bracteoles cuplike, 0.5 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. |
15–21 mm; calyx tubular-campanulate, 9–12 mm, pilose, veins 10, tube 4.5–6 mm, lobes subequal, abaxialmost longest, subulate, orifice open; corolla deep pink or magenta, 20–23 mm, banner tubular for most their length, 18–22 × 5–7 mm, apex flared. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
ellipsoid, 4–5 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1 or 2, yellow-mottled, mitten-shaped, 2–3 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
|
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium owyheense |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Dry shale hillsides on diatomaceous earth. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 1000–2000 m. [3300–6600 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
|
ID; OR
|
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 owyheense is known from about 40 populations in a small portion of east-central Malheur County in Oregon, and immediately adjacent Owyhee County in Idaho (M. Mancuso 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) | Gilkey: Madroño 13: 169, fig. 1. (1956) |
Web links |