Trifolium reflexum |
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buffalo clover |
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Habit | Herbs annual or biennial, 10–60 cm, villous or glabrate. |
Stems | erect or ascending, unbranched or branched. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules broadly ovate, 1–2.5 cm, margins entire or denticulate, apex acute or acuminate; petiole 1–10 cm (distalmost 0.3–3.5 cm); petiolules 0.5–1.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades ovate, obovate, oblong, or rhombic, 1–4.5 × 0.7–2 cm, base cuneate, veins fine, margins dentate to denticulate, apex broadly acute, rounded, or emarginate, surfaces pubescent or glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal or axillary, 10–50-flowered, globose to subglobose, 1.5–4 × 2–4 cm; bracteoles forming shallow, membranous cups, to 0.5 mm. |
Peduncles | 2–8 cm. |
Pedicels | reflexed in fruit, 5–12 mm; bracteoles broad-obovate, membranous, 0.5–1 mm, truncate to 2-fid. |
Flowers | 10–15 mm; calyx campanulate, 6–9 mm, pilose or glabrous, veins 10, tube 1–1.5 mm, lobes equal, narrowly triangular to subulate, 3–7 mm, margins green, sinuses broad, orifice open; corolla usually pink, magenta, or creamy white, sometimes bicolored, 9–14 mm, banner obovate-oblong, 9–14 × 5–8 mm, apex rounded or retuse, often erose-denticulate. |
Legumes | oblong, 4–5 mm. |
Seeds | 1–6, yellow to brown, purple-mottled, globose, 1.2–1.5 mm, slightly rugose. |
2n | = 16. |
Trifolium reflexum |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Clearings in forests, open woods, meadows, especially after fires. |
Elevation | 200–500 m. (700–1600 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV; ON
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Discussion | Nearly glabrous plants of Trifolium reflexum have been called var. glabrum Lojacono; var. reflexum is described as densely pubescent. The distinctions between these two varieties is inconsistent and may be based in part on age (M. A. Vincent 1991). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Amoria reflexa, T. adscendens, T. comosum, T. platycephalum |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 766. (1753) |
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