Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium resupinatum |
|
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big-head clover, large-head clover |
Persian clover, reversed clover |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, 5–25 cm, villous. | Herbs annual, 20–60 cm, glabrous or glabrescent. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched. |
ascending, erect, or procumbent, 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 or ovate, 0.5–1.8 cm, margins entire, apex acuminate-filiform; petiole 0.5–20 cm; petiolules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate, ovate, elliptic, or rhombic, 1–3 × 0.5–3 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately prominent, margins spinulose-dentate, apex rounded or broadly acute, surfaces hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 20–32-flowered, globose or ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–8 × 3–7 cm; involucres absent. |
axillary, 15–30-flowered, subglobose to globose, flowers resupinate, forming stellate-spreading clusters in fruit, 0.5–1.6 × 0.8–1.5 cm; involucres a narrow rim, 0.2 mm. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
1–6 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, 1–1.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, to 0.5 mm, truncate. |
slightly reflexed, to 0.5 mm; bracteoles minute or 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. |
5–6 mm; calyx tubular-campanulate, inflated in fruit, markedly asymmetric-bilabiate, slit between adaxial lobes, 2.5–3 mm, 8–11 mm in fruit, hairy, short-hairy or glabrescent in fruit, veins 10, connected by lateral veins, tube 2 mm, 7–9 mm in fruit, lobes green, erect, unequal, triangular, divergent, linear-lanceolate, unequal in fruit, orifice open; corolla pink to purple, 5–8 mm, banner oblong, 5–8 × 2 mm, apex emarginate to crenulate. |
Legumes | ovoid, 4–5 mm. |
lenticular, 1.8–2.2 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow or reddish, mitten-shaped to ellipsoid, 2.5–3 mm, smooth. |
1, ovoid, dark purple, olive green, yellow, or reddish brown, 1.5–1.9 mm, smooth, dull. |
2n | = 32, 48. |
= 14, 16, 32. |
Trifolium macrocephalum |
Trifolium resupinatum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Rocky places, hard, compacted clay-gumbo, lava beds, sage-covered slopes, full sun. | Wet meadows, lawns, roadsides, fields, waste places. |
Elevation | 80–2500 m. [260–8200 ft.] | 0–700 m. [0–2300 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
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AL; AR; CA; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; ND; OH; OK; OR; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; ON; c Europe; s Europe; sw Asia; n Africa; introduced also in s South America (Argentina, Uruguay); s Africa; Pacific Islands (Hawaii, New Zealand); Australia [Introduced in North America]
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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.) |
Widespread use of Trifolium resupinatum as a forage crop began in the late 1920s, after it began to flourish in Louisiana following a flood of the Mississippi River (E. A. Hollowell 1943). It is used in the southern United States as a pasture plant and for production of hay, and has spread widely from cultivation. Reports of Trifolium resupinatum for New Brunswick and Quebec are based on old collections; since the species has not been recollected for many years in either province, they are excluded here. (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: 771. (1753) |
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