Trifolium tomentosum |
Trifolium medium |
|
---|---|---|
woolly clover |
trèfle flexueux, zigzag clover |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, 10–20 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. | Herbs perennial, 20–70 cm, strigose. |
Stems | prostrate, ascending, or erect, branched. |
erect-ascending, flexuous, often zigzag, branched. |
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 lanceolate-linear, 1.8–2.8 cm, margins entire, ciliate, apex subulate; petiole 1–9 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades elliptic-oblong, obovate, or ovate, 1.5–5 × 0.8–3.5 cm, base cuneate, veins arcuate, forked, margins entire, finely ciliate, apex obtuse to acute, surfaces appressed-pubescent. |
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 or axillary, rarely paired, 20–50-flowered, globose or ovoid, 1.5–4 × 1.3–3.8 cm; involucres absent. |
Peduncles | 0.5–1.5 cm. |
1–3 cm. |
Pedicels | slightly reflexed, to 0.5 mm; bracteoles cup-shaped, membranous, 0.2 mm. |
straight, 0.5 mm; 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. |
15–18 mm; calyx cylindric, 6–10 mm, glabrous, veins 10–15, tube 2.5–3.5 mm, lobes unequal, subulate-setaceous, orifice glabrous or hairy distally, closed; corolla usually reddish purple, rarely white, 12–20 mm, banner lanceolate-elliptic, 1.2–2 × 4–5 mm, apex acute. |
Legumes | ovoid to globose, 2–3 mm. |
ovoid to globose, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 2–3 mm. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow to brown, mottled, mitten-shaped, 0.9–1.1 mm, smooth, glossy. |
1 or 2, yellow-brown, mitten-shaped, 1–1.5 mm, smooth, lustrous. |
2n | = 16. |
= 48, 64, 68, 70, 72, 80, ca. 126. |
Trifolium tomentosum |
Trifolium medium |
|
Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr. | Flowering May–Aug. |
Habitat | Sandy lawns, fields, meadows, roadsides, clay soils among vernal pools. | Fields, roadsides. |
Elevation | 0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.) | 0–300 m. (0–1000 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]
|
MA; MD; ME; MI; NJ; NY; RI; NB; ON; QC; Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in e Asia (e China), Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia] |
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 medium was reported for Kentucky by H. Garman (1902); no non-cultivated specimens have been seen for that state (M. A. Vincent 2001). Reports of T. medium in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are based on old reports and the species does not appear to be extant in those regions. (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) | Linnaeus: Amoen. Acad. 4: 105. (1759) |
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