Herbs annual, 5–60 cm, hirsute or glabrous. Stems erect to decumbent, branched. Leaves palmate; stipules oblong, 0.5–1.9 cm, margins entire, apex lanceolate-subulate; petiole 0.3–5 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades ovate to obovate, 0.5–1.5 × 0.3–2 cm, base cuneate, veins fine, margins denticulate to dentate, apex rounded, truncate, or emarginate, surfaces hirsute. Peduncles 0.1–0.7 cm. Inflorescences terminal, 40–60-flowered, globose or ovoid, burlike, not disarticulating at maturity, 1–1.4 × 1.8–2 cm; involucres absent. Pedicels straight, 0.5 mm; bracteoles absent. Flowers 7–9 mm; calyx cam­panulate, 7–9 mm, glabrous, veins 20, tube 3 mm, lobes equal, longer than tube, setaceous becoming spinose, orifice hairy, open; corolla pinkish white, 6–10 mm, banner elliptic, 6–9 × 1.5–2 mm, apex emarginate. Legumes ovoid, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 1.5 mm, long-beaked. Seeds 1, light brown, reddish, or yellow with reddish spots, ovoid, 1 mm, smooth, shiny. 2n = 16.

Phenology: Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, grassy areas.
Elevation: 0–300 m.

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

Introduced; Ala., Fla., La., Miss., N.J., N.C., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Tex., s Europe, w Asia, n Africa, Atlantic Islands (Canary Islands), introduced also in s South America (Uruguay), s Africa, Australia.

Discussion

Trifolium lappaceum was introduced to the United States about 1903; it has been used as a winter annual pasture and hay crop (E. A. Hollowell 1939), as well as in roadside grass plantings as a nitrogen source.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.