trifolium macrocephalum
{{Short description|Species of legume}}
{{speciesbox
|image = Trifolium_macrocephalum_7882.JPG
|image_caption = Inflorescence
|genus = Trifolium
|species = macrocephalum
}}
Trifolium macrocephalum is a species of clover known by the common name largehead clover or bighead clover native to the Great Basin region of the western United States.{{PLANTS|id=TRMA3|taxon=Trifolium macrocephalum|accessdate=15 December 2015}}
Description
Trifolium macrocephalum is a rhizomatous perennial herb taking an upright form. The herbage is hairy. The leaves are made up of, theoretically 3, but usually from, 5 to 9 thick oval leaflets each measuring up to 2.5 centimeters in length and have short teeth at their margins and often a pale transverse mark.
The inflorescence is crowded, egg-shaped and up to 5 or 6 centimeters long. Each flower has a calyx of sepals with lobes narrowing into bristles which are coated in long woolly hairs. The flower corolla may be nearly 3 cm in length and is pink to lavender in color, or sometimes bicolored. It blooms early in spring. As both the Latin and common names suggest, the flower head is unusually large for a clover.
Distribution and habitat
Trifolium macrocephalum is native to the Great Basin region of the western United States, from Washington to northern California, and Nevada to Idaho. It occurs in several types of habitat, including sagebrush scrub, juniper woodland, yellow pine forest, and mountain woodlands. It prefers thin-soiled, rocky areas.{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Ronald J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25708726|title=Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary|publisher=Mountain Press Pub. Co|year=1994|isbn=0-87842-280-3|edition=rev.|location=Missoula, MT|pages=108|language=en|oclc=25708726|orig-year=1992}}
Gallery
Image: Tiifolium macrocephalum iNat-112793763.jpg|Showing outsized flower head
Image: Trifolium macrocephalum iNat-155162050.jpg|Leaf
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Trifolium macrocephalum|Trifolium macrocephalum}}
- [http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=8095 Calflora Database: Trifolium macrocephalum (Big headed clover, Largehead clover)]
- [https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47127 Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Trifolium macrocephalum]
- [http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php?Genus=Trifolium&Species=macrocephalum Washington Burke Museum]
- [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Trifolium+macrocephalum UC CalPhotos gallery: Trifolium macrocephalum]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q6796153}}
Category:Flora of the Great Basin
Category:Flora of the Northwestern United States
Category:Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Trifolieae-stub}}