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Montana Field Guide

Montana Field Guides

White-tip Clover - Trifolium variegatum

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: SNR
C-value: 2


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

 
General Description
Annual. Stems prostrate to erect, 5–30 cm. Herbage glabrous. Leaflets obovate, 5–15 mm long, serrate; stipules ovate, lacerate. Racemes axillary, umbellate, 1–2 cm wide, longer than the leaves, subtended by a glabrous, saucer-shaped involucre with spine-tipped lobes. Flowers purple, 6–10 mm long; calyx glabrous; sepals narrowly deltoid, spine-tipped, 3–5 mm long, shorter than the corolla. Legume often rupturing the calyx, 2–3 mm long with 1 or 2 seeds (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Diagnostic Characteristics
Trifolium variegatum is distinguished from T. microcephalum by the former’s glabrous involucre and herbage. T. microcephalum has a villous involucre and villous to hirsute herbage (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Range Comments
Missoula County; BC, MT south to CA, AZ, UT and WY (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 1

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Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat

References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Foster, B.G. and Michael A. Vincent. 2018. A new taxonomy for Trifolium variegatum and its relatives. Madrono. 65(3):141-150
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
  • Web Search Engines for Articles on "White-tip Clover"
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Citation for data on this website:
White-tip Clover — Trifolium variegatum.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from