Trifolium kingii

Herbs perennial, 2–40 cm, glabrous. Stems erect or ascending, branched from root stock. Leaves palmate; stipules lanceolate, 0.8–3 cm, margins entire, apex acuminate; petiole 0.8–15 cm; petiolules 1 mm; leaflets 3, blades ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, 0.5–8 × 0.4–2.6 cm, basal blades thick, base cuneate, veins prominent, margins sharply serrate, those of basal leaves entire, sometimes shortly setose, apex acute, obtuse, or obcordate, surfaces glabrous. Peduncles curved apically, 3–14 cm. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, 20–35-flowered, inverted or horizontal, depressed-globose or obovoid, 1.5–3.2 × 1.5–3 cm, rachis internodes not especially elongated; involucres absent. Pedicels reflexed, 0.5 mm; bracteoles broadly ovate, blunt, minute. Flowers 12–16 mm; calyx campanulate, 5–6 mm, usually sparsely pubescent, sometimes glabrate, veins 5, tube 2–3.5 mm, lobes equal, 1–1.5 times tube, subulate, curved, orifice open; corolla usually pink-purple, rarely white, 13–15 mm, banner lanceolate-ovate, 15–18 × 4–5 mm, apex rounded; ovaries glabrous. Legumes flattened, ellipsoid, 3–4 mm. Seeds 1–3, brown, flattened ovoid, 2–2.2 mm, smooth. 2n = 16.

Phenology: Flowering Jul–Aug.
Habitat: Alpine meadows, stream banks, open aspen and spruce-fir woods.
Elevation: 2200–3300 m.

Colo., Nev., Utah.

Discussion

Trifolium kingii is widely distributed throughout Utah (S. L. Welsh et al. 2008), is found in Mesa County southward to Dolores County in Colorado, and is found rarely in eastern Nevada.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa