Trifolium medium

Herbs perennial, 20–70 cm, strigose. Stems erect-ascending, flexuous, often zigzag, branched. Leaves 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. Peduncles 1–3 cm. Inflo­rescences terminal or axillary, rarely paired, 20–50-flowered, globose or ovoid, 1.5–4 × 1.3–3.8 cm; invo­lucres absent. Pedicels straight, 0.5 mm; bracteoles absent. Flowers 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, leathery distally, transversely dehiscent, 2–3 mm. Seeds 1 or 2, yellow-brown, mitten-shaped, 1–1.5 mm, smooth, lustrous. 2n = 48, 64, 68, 70, 72, 80, ca. 126.

Phenology: Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat: Fields, roadsides.
Elevation: 0–300 m.

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

Loading map...

Introduced; N.B., Ont., Que., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., N.J., N.Y., R.I., Europe, w Asia, introduced also in e Asia (e China), Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia.

Discussion

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.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.