Trifolium tomentosum |
Trifolium plumosum |
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woolly clover |
plumed clover |
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Habit | Herbs annual, 10–20 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. | Herbs perennial, 10–60 cm, villous. | ||||
Stems | prostrate, ascending, or erect, branched. |
erect, branched or unbranched. |
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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 linear, oblong, or ovate, 1.5–2.5 cm, margins entire or slightly serrulate, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 1–20 cm; petiolules to 0.5 mm; leaflets 3, blades linear, elliptic, oblong, or lanceolate-elliptic, often folded, falcate, 4–11 × 0.1–1.6 cm, base cuneate, veins thickened, margins denticulate, apex acute or acuminate, surfaces villous. |
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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, 70–80-flowered, spicate, ovoid to cylindric, 3–6 × 2.5–3 cm; involucres absent. |
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Peduncles | 0.5–1.5 cm. |
2–6 cm. |
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Pedicels | slightly reflexed, to 0.5 mm; bracteoles cup-shaped, membranous, 0.2 mm. |
erect or absent, 0–0.5 mm; bracteoles absent. |
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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. |
17–18 mm; calyx campanulate, 5 mm, villous, veins 20, tube 2.5 mm, lobes subequal, subulate, straight, orifice open; corolla creamy white, keel petals crimson, 12–22 mm, banner oblong, 12–22 × 3–5 mm, apex acute; ovaries glabrous or pubescent distally. |
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Legumes | ovoid to globose, 2–3 mm. |
obovoid, 4–5 mm. |
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Seeds | 1 or 2, yellow to brown, mottled, mitten-shaped, 0.9–1.1 mm, smooth, glossy. |
1–3, reddish brown or tan, ellipsoid, 1.8–2 mm, smooth, glossy. |
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2n | = 16. |
= 32. |
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Trifolium tomentosum |
Trifolium plumosum |
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Phenology | Flowering Feb–Apr. | |||||
Habitat | Sandy lawns, fields, meadows, roadsides, clay soils among vernal pools. | |||||
Elevation | 0–400 m. (0–1300 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]
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nw United States
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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.) |
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). J. M. Gillett (1972) stated that the leaflet width in the basal leaves is the best distinction between the two subspecies, which are geographically isolated. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. | ||||
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Trifolium | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 771. (1753) | Douglas in W. J. Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 130, plate 49. (1831) | ||||
Web links |