''Trifolium macrocephalum'' is a species of

clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

known by the common name largehead clover or bighead clover native to the

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

region of the western United States.

Description

''Trifolium macrocephalum'' is a

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

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 In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is crowded, egg-shaped and up to 5 or 6 centimeters long. Each flower has a calyx of

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s 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

region of the western United States, from Washington to northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. It occurs in several types of habitat, including sagebrush scrub, juniper woodland, yellow pine forest, and mountain woodlands. It prefers thin-soiled, rocky areas.

Gallery

Image: Tiifolium macrocephalum iNat-112793763.jpg, Showing outsized flower head Image: Trifolium macrocephalum iNat-155162050.jpg, Leaf

References

External links

*
Calflora Database: ''Trifolium macrocephalum'' (Big headed clover, Largehead clover) Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Trifolium macrocephalum''Washington Burke MuseumUC CalPhotos gallery: ''Trifolium macrocephalum''
macrocephalum Flora of California Flora of the Great Basin Flora of Nevada Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Trifolieae-stub