Trifolium oliganthum |
Trifolium andinum |
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few-flower clover, few-flowerered clover |
Great Divide clover, intermountain clover |
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Habit | Herbs annual, 10–50 cm, glabrous. | Herbs perennial, 5–15 cm, pubescent. |
Stems | erect, dichotomously branched. |
erect or ascending, cespitose, much-branched. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules lanceolate, 0.4–1.2 cm, margins lacerate, apex subulate; petiole 0.5–4 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades linear, oblong, oblanceolate, or elliptic, 0.5–2.5 × 0.1–0.5 cm, base cuneate, veins fine or moderately thickened, margins entire, spinulose, or dentate, apex rounded or truncate, mucronate, surfaces glabrous. |
palmate; stipules oblanceolate, 0.5–1.4 cm, margins entire, apex acute-acuminate; petiole 0.5–4 cm; petiolules to 0.1 mm; leaflets 3, blades oblanceolate, often folded, 0.4–1.5 × 0.2–0.4 cm, base cuneate, veins obscure, margins subentire to denticulate distally, apex acute, mucronulate, surfaces villous. |
Inflorescences | axillary or terminal, 3–15-flowered, obconic, 0.3–1.2 × 0.3–0.8 cm; involucres flattened to bowl-shaped, 1–2 mm, when folded, not hiding flowers except proximally, incised 4/5–9/10 their length, lobes lanceolate-subulate. |
terminal, usually formed of 2 sessile heads, 15–25-flowered, globose, 0.8–2 × 0.6–1.5 cm; involucres absent, distal stipules and leaves sometimes forming involucrelike structure. |
Peduncles | 2.5–7.5 cm. |
between distal leaves or involucrelike structure and inflorescences 0.5–6 cm. |
Pedicels | erect, 0.5–2 mm; bracteoles absent. |
straight, (0–)1–2 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, truncate, membranous, to 0.5 mm. |
Flowers | 11–16 mm; calyx campanulate, slit between adaxial lobes, 4–5 mm, glabrous, veins 10, tube 2.5–5.2 mm, lobes triangular-subulate, 3-fid or shouldered below apex, orifice open; corolla lavender with white tips, keel petals purple, 6–8 mm, banner narrowly ovate-oblong, 6–8 × 2 mm, apex narrowly rounded, erose. |
10–15 mm; calyx tubular-campanulate, 6–9 mm, rough-hairy or glabrous, veins 10, tube 3–6 mm, lobes subequal, subulate, orifice open; corolla light purple, 10–15 mm, banner oblong, 9–13 × 3–4 mm, apex rounded or truncate; ovaries pubescent distally. |
Legumes | sessile, oblong, 2.1–3.2 mm. |
ellipsoid, 4–5 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2 (or 3), reddish brown, mottled, lenticular or reniform, 1.2–1.3 mm, smooth. |
1 or 2, brown, ovoid, 1.5–2 mm, smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
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Trifolium oliganthum |
Trifolium andinum |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jul. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Stream banks, grassy, rocky slopes, meadows, fields. | Shale or clay bluffs and hilltops, crevices of volcanic or limestone rock, pinyon-juniper belt. |
Elevation | 0–1100 m. (0–3600 ft.) | 1600–2300 m. (5200–7500 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA; BC
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AZ; CO; NM; NV; UT; WY
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Discussion | Trifolium oliganthum is relatively common throughout much of its range in California; it is found in a few scattered sites northward into Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Even though it closely resembles T. variegatum, it is placed near T. bifidum in molecular studies (N. W. Ellison et al. 2006). Trifolium hexanthum Greene ex A. Heller, which pertains here, is not a validly published name. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Trifolium andinum ranges from central and southern Nevada into west-central Utah, north-central Arizona to southeastern Utah, north-central New Mexico, and northeastern Utah into southwestern Wyoming. Differentiation of T. andinum into subspecific taxa proved impossible, since no consistent gaps in morphological traits could be found. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | T. pauciflorum, T. filipes, T. oliganthum var. sonomense, T. triflorum | T. andinum var. canone, T. andinum var. navajoense, T. andinum var. podocephalum, T. andinum var. wahwahense |
Name authority | Steudel: Nomencl. Bot. ed. 2, 2: 707. (1841) | Nuttall in J. Torrey and A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 314. (1838) |
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