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Dutch clover, trèfle blanc, white clover

andrews' clover, Gray's clover

Habit Herbs perennial, 10–40 cm, glabrous or glabrescent. Herbs annual, 10–40 cm, densely pubescent or glabrate.
Stems

creeping, branched, rooting at nodes.

erect, branched.

Leaves

palmate;

stipules lanceolate, 0.9–1.3 cm, margins entire, apex short-subulate;

petiole 5–20 cm;

petiolules to 1 mm;

leaflets 3, blades obovate, obcordate, or orbiculate, 0.6–4 × 0.4–2.5 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately prominent, margins serrulate distally, apex rounded, emarginate, or retuse, surfaces glabrous.

palmate;

stipules ovate, 0.5–1.5 cm, margins toothed or lacerate, apex acute-acuminate;

petiole 1–15 cm;

petiolules 1 mm;

leaflets 3, blades elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, 2–2.5 × 1–1.5 cm, base cuneate, veins fine, margins dentate-serrate to crenulate, teeth shortly aristate, apex obtuse or broadly acute, surfaces pubescent or glabrate.

Inflorescences

axillary, 20–40+-flowered, globose, 1.5–3.5 × 1.5–3.5 cm;

involucres absent.

axillary or terminal, 5–30-flowered, subglobose or globose, 1.8–3 × 2–3 cm;

involucres bowl-shaped, 10–25 mm, lobes 6–16, sharply setaceous-toothed, sinuses shallow.

Peduncles

erect, from prostrate stems, 1.5–30 cm.

2–15 cm.

Pedicels

strongly reflexed in fruit, elongate, 3–5 mm;

bracteoles white, lanceolate, 1–2 mm.

straight, 0.5 mm;

bracteoles absent.

Flowers

8–13 mm;

calyx campanulate, 3–5 mm, glabrous, veins 6–10, tube 1.5–2.5 mm, lobes unequal to subequal, adaxial shorter than tube, triangular-lanceolate, orifice open;

corolla white, often pinkish in age, 4–12 mm, banner ovate-lanceolate or oblong, 4–12 × 1–4 mm, apex rounded.

10–17 mm;

calyx campanulate, 6–13 mm, pubescent, veins 5, tube 3–5 mm, lobes unequal, setaceous, abaxial inconspicuously 2- or 3-fid, adaxial unbranched, segments plumose, orifice open;

corolla usually lavender or purple, sometimes purple with white tips, 8–16 mm, banner oblong, proximally inflated in fruit, distally narrowed into twisted tip, 3–5 × 10–13 mm, apex obtuse, truncate, or emarginate.

Legumes

linear-oblong, 4–5 mm.

stipitate, ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–4 mm.

Seeds

3 or 4, yellow, reddish brown, or light brown, ovoid-reniform, 1 mm, smooth, glossy.

1 or 2, pale brown, mottled, ellipsoid to mitten-shaped, 1.6–2 mm, rugose.

2n

= 16, 28, 32, 48, 64.

Trifolium repens

Trifolium grayi

Phenology Flowering Feb–Oct. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Fields, lawns, roadsides, forest edges, waste places. Wet meadows, foothill slopes, pine woodlands.
Elevation 0–4000 m. (0–13100 ft.) 0–600 m. (0–2000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Greenland; Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America, Africa, Pacific Islands]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Trifolium repens may very well be the most important temperate pasture plant (M. J. Baker and W. M. Williams 1987) and has been considered the most important perennial pasture plant in North America (C. V. Piper 1924). It was introduced at least as early as the mid 1800s (R. N. Mack 2003) and spread so rapidly that it became known to Native Americans as White Man’s Foot Grass (W. Strickland 1801). It is morphologically diverse; most material from the flora area represents var. repens, but some specimens fit within the circumscriptions given by M. Zohary and D. Heller (1984) of var. giganteum Lagrèze-Fossat, with inflorescences to 3.5 cm diameter and leaflets nearly 4 cm; others have smaller, pale-pink petals with hairy petioles and pedicels, and approach var. biasolettii (Steudel & Hochstetter) Ascherson & Graebner (T. occidentale Coombe).

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

Trifolium grayi, which ranges from San Luis Obispo County in the south to Mendocino County in the north, and eastward into Amador, Sacramento, and Tuolumne counties, has long been considered a variety of T. barbigerum and some authors claim that intermediates between the two species are encountered (J. S. Martin 1943; D. Isely 1998); others state that the two taxa are distinct (L. F. McDermott 1910; M. A Vincent and R. Morgan 1998).

Trifolium andrewsii (A. Gray) A. Heller is an illegitimate superfluous name that pertains here.

(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. macrocephalum, 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. 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. 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. 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
Synonyms T. saxicola T. barbigerum var. andrewsii, T. barbigerum var. lilacinum, T. lilacinum
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 767. (1753) Lojacono: Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital. 15: 189. (1883)
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