Herbs annual, 5–40 cm, gla­brous. Stems prostrate, ascend­ing, or erect, branched. Leaves palmate; stipules triangular-lanceolate, 0.9–1 cm, margins entire, apex long-acuminate, reflexing; petiole 1–10 cm; peti­olules to 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades obovate or obcordate, 0.4–1.5 × 0.4–1 cm, base cuneate, veins prominent, recurved, mar­gins coarsely dentate, apex rounded, trun­cate, or emar­ginate, surfaces glabrous. Peduncles 0.6–1.5 cm, becom­ing shorter distally. Inflorescences axil­lary or terminal, 8–20-flowered, depressed-globose, 0.9–1.1 × 0.8–1 cm; involucres absent. Pedicels reflexed in fruit, 0.5–2 mm; bracteoles lanceolate, 1 mm. Flowers 4–5.5 mm; calyx tubular-campanulate, 4 mm, glabrous, veins 10, tube 2–2.2 mm, lobes subequal, triangular-subulate, margins green, pink, or purple, orifice open; corolla pink, 4–5 mm, banner obovate, 4–5 × 1–2 mm, apex deeply emar­ginate. Legumes ovoid-ellipsoid, 4 mm. Seeds 1–4, yellow, ovoid, 0.8–1 mm, minutely papillate. 2n = 16.

Phenology: Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat: Roadsides, lawns.
Elevation: 0–150 m.

Distribution

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Introduced; Calif., Oreg., S.C., Asia, n Africa, introduced also in s Africa, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia.

Discussion

Trifolium cernuum is a relatively recent introduction in the flora area. Other than a record from wool mill waste in North Carolina in 1932, the earliest records are from the 1990s in California.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.