Trifolium tomentosum |
Trifolium echinatum |
|
---|---|---|
woolly clover |
prickly clover |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, 10–20 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. | Herbs annual, 10–50 cm, appressed-hairy. |
Stems | prostrate, ascending, or erect, branched. |
erect or ascending, branched from base. |
Leaves | palmate; stipules ovate or triangular-lanceolate, 0.4–1.2 cm, margins entire, apex acute or acuminate; petiole 0.5–7 cm; petiolules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate, obcordate, or elliptic, 0.4–1.5 × 0.3–1 cm, base cuneate, veins moderately prominent, margins denticulate, apex rounded or emarginate, surfaces sparsely hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
palmate; stipules ovate-lanceolate, 0.4–0.8 cm, margins entire, apex acuminate, flared outward; petiole 0.5–6 cm; petiolules 1+ mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate, elliptic, or narrowly elliptic, 0.8–2.5 × 0.4–1.6 cm, base cuneate, veins prominent, thickened abaxially, margins denticulate or serrate, apex rounded, acute, or apiculate, surfaces sparsely hairy. |
Inflorescences | axillary, 10–20-flowered, subglobose, soon becoming globose, flowers resupinate, calyces densely white-woolly, compacted, inflated, 0.5–1.5 × 0.5–1.5 cm; involucres a narrow rim, 0.2 mm. |
terminal and axillary, 15–50-flowered, obconic or obovoid, 1–2 × 1–1.6 cm; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 0.5–1.5 cm. |
0.8–2 cm. |
Pedicels | slightly reflexed, to 0.5 mm; bracteoles cup-shaped, membranous, 0.2 mm. |
absent; bracteoles absent. |
Flowers | 3–7 mm; calyx tubular, inflated in fruit, markedly asymmetric-bilabiate, 2–6 mm, woolly adaxially, veins 5–10, connected by lateral veins, tube 1.5–2.5 mm, 4–5 mm in fruit, lobes unequal, subulate, shorter than tube, adaxial spreading or curved, orifice open, abruptly constricted in fruit; corolla pink, 3–6 mm, banner ovate, 3–6 × 3–6 mm, apex emarginate to crenulate. |
9–11 mm; calyx campanulate, 5–8 mm, glabrescent, veins 10, tube 2–3 mm, lobes unequal, triangular-elliptic, stellate-spreading, orifice closed by bilabiate callosities; corolla creamy white, 8–10 mm, banner oblong-spatulate, 8–10 × 2–3 mm, apex acute. |
Legumes | ovoid to globose, 2–3 mm. |
obovoid, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 1.6–2 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow to brown, mottled, mitten-shaped, 0.9–1.1 mm, smooth, glossy. |
1, tan or brown, ovoid, 1.2–1.4 mm, smooth, glossy. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Trifolium tomentosum |
Trifolium echinatum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Sandy lawns, fields, meadows, roadsides, clay soils among vernal pools. | Disturbed roadsides, fields. |
Elevation | 0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.) | 100–300 m. (300–1000 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; FL; MA; NC; SC; s Europe (Mediterranean); sw Asia; n Africa; Atlantic Islands (Azores) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America (Chile), s Africa, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
|
AL; LA; c Europe; s Europe; w Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Trifolium tomentosum is occasionally cultivated as a forage crop (F. J. Hermann 1953) and is becoming weedy in the flora area and in Australia (R. P. Randall 2002). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Trifolium echinatum was recently discovered in Ouachita Parish in a disturbed construction area; an older record (1902) from ballast in Portland, Oregon, appears to have been a waif. (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 | ||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 771. (1753) | M. Bieberstein: Fl. Taur.-Caucas. 2: 216. (1808) |
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