Herbs annual, 10–40 cm, densely pubescent or glabrate. Stems erect, branched. Leaves palmate; stipules ovate, 0.5–1.5 cm, margins toothed or lacerate, apex acute-acuminate; petiole 1–15 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, 2–2.5 × 1–1.5 cm, base cuneate, veins fine, margins dentate-serrate to crenulate, teeth shortly aris­tate, apex obtuse or broadly acute, surfaces pubescent or glabrate. Peduncles 2–15 cm. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, 5–30-flowered, subglobose or globose, 1.8–3 × 2–3 cm; involucres bowl-shaped, 10–25 mm, lobes 6–16, sharply setaceous-toothed, sinuses shallow. Pedicels straight, 0.5 mm; bracteoles absent. Flowers 10–17 mm; calyx campanulate, 6–13 mm, pubescent, veins 5, tube 3–5 mm, lobes unequal, setaceous, abaxial inconspicuously 2- or 3-fid, adaxial unbranched, seg­ments plumose, orifice open; corolla usually lavender or purple, sometimes purple with white tips, 8–16 mm, banner oblong, proximally inflated in fruit, distally narrowed into twisted tip, 3–5 × 10–13 mm, apex obtuse, truncate, or emarginate. Legumes stipitate, ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5–4 mm. Seeds 1 or 2, pale brown, mottled, ellipsoid to mitten-shaped, 1.6–2 mm, rugose.

Phenology: Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat: Wet meadows, foothill slopes, pine woodlands.
Elevation: 0–600 m.

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

Calif.

Discussion

Trifolium grayi, which ranges from San Luis Obispo County in the south to Mendocino County in the north, and eastward into Amador, Sacramento, and Tuolumne counties, has long been considered a variety of T. barbigerum and some authors claim that intermedi­ates between the two species are encountered (J. S. Martin 1943; D. Isely 1998); others state that the two taxa are distinct (L. F. McDermott 1910; M. A Vincent and R. Morgan 1998).

Trifolium andrewsii (A. Gray) A. Heller is an illegiti­mate superfluous name that pertains here.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.