Trifolium aureum

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Trifolium aureum
Trifolium aureum W.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Trifolium
Species:
T. aureum
Binomial name
Trifolium aureum
Synonyms [2]
  • Chrysaspis aurea(Pollich) Greene
  • Trifolium agrarium L.
  • Trifolium strepens Crantz

Trifolium aureum, known by the various common names large hop trefoil, large trefoil, [3] [4] large hop clover, [3] golden clover [5] or hop clover, is a species of flowering plant native to much of Eurasia.

Contents

Large hop trefoil is a small erect herbaceous biennial plant growing to 10–30 cm tall. Like all clovers, it has leaves divided into three sessile leaflets, each leaflet 15–25 mm long and 6–9 mm broad. Its yellow flowers are arranged into small, elongated round inflorescences 12–20 mm diameter, located at the end of the stem. Each individual flower is decumbent. As they age, the flowers become brown and paper-like. The fruit is a pod usually containing two seeds.

The closely related Trifolium campestre (hop trefoil) is a similar, but shorter, spreading, species with smaller leaves and flowers. The middle leaflet of its leaves also has a short rachis.

Cultivation and uses

The plant is very common, and grows well on poor, undisturbed grounds. While it probably has good nutritive values, perennial species are favored as forage.

Distribution

Trifolium aureum is native throughout Europe (in Spain only in the north-east), western and northern Asia, and the Middle East (in Ciscaucasia and western Siberia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, northern Iran, Lebanon and Turkey). It is also native to the Canary Islands. [3]

Trifolium aureum is widely naturalized in North America: [3] it was first introduced to the U.S. (by way of Pennsylvania) in 1800,[ citation needed ] where it is now found in the western (as far north as Alaska) and eastern regions of the country, but not in the middle, or very much in the southern states. [5] It is also now found in Canada in all of its southerly provinces (with a possible exception being Manitoba). [5]

Similar plants

Large hop trefoil, Trifolium aureum, may be confused with other plants that have three leaflets and small yellow flowers, such as hop trefoil (T. campestre), lesser hop trefoil (T. dubium), black medick (Medicago lupulina), and yellow woodsorrel (Oxalis stricta).

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<i>Trifolium repens</i> Flowering plant, bean family Fabaceae

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<i>Trifolium campestre</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium campestre, commonly known as hop trefoil, field clover and low hop clover, is a species of flowering plant native to Europe and western Asia, growing in dry, sandy grassland habitats, fields, woodland margins, roadsides, wastelands and cultivated land. The species name campestre means "of the fields".

<i>Medicago lupulina</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Medicago lupulina, commonly known as black medick, nonesuch, or hop clover, is a plant of dry grassland belonging to the legume or clover family. Plants of the genus Medicago, or bur clovers, are closely related to the true clovers (Trifolium) and sweet clover (Melilotus). Like the true clovers, black medick has three leaflets and a small, yellow flower closely resembling those of lesser trefoil. Black medick belongs to the same genus as alfalfa.

<i>Trifolium dubium</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium dubium, the lesser trefoil, suckling clover, little hop clover or lesser hop trefoil, is a flowering plant in the pea and clover family Fabaceae. This species is generally accepted as the primary plant to represent the traditional Irish shamrock.

<i>Ligustrum ovalifolium</i> Species of plant

Ligustrum ovalifolium, also known as Korean privet, California privet, garden privet, and oval-leaved privet, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae. The species is native to Japan and Korea.

<i>Trifolium angustifolium</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium angustifolium is a species of clover known by the common names narrowleaf crimson clover, narrow clover and narrow-leaved clover.

Trifolium beckwithii is a species of clover known by the common name Beckwith's clover.

<i>Trifolium depauperatum</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium depauperatum is a species of clover known by the common names cowbag clover, poverty clover, and balloon sack clover.

<i>Trifolium glomeratum</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium glomeratum is a species of clover known by the common names clustered clover and bush clover. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa and it is known elsewhere as an introduced species. It easily takes hold in disturbed areas, becoming a common weed. It is an annual herb growing decumbent to upright in form with mostly hairless herbage. The leaves are made up of oval leaflets up to 1.2 centimeters in length. The inflorescences occur in leaf axils, each a headlike cluster of many flowers. Each flower has a calyx of sepals with triangular points that bend outward, and a pink corolla.

Trifolium gracilentum is a species of clover known by the common names pinpoint clover and slender clover. It is native to western North America including the west coast of the United States and northwestern Mexico, where it grows in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas. It is an annual herb growing prostrate to erect in form with mostly hairless or slightly hairy herbage. The leaves are made up of lance-shaped to oval leaflets. The inflorescence is an umbel of flowers that spread out or flex downward. The flowers have pink or purple corollas less than a centimeter long.

<i>Trifolium hirtum</i> Species of legume

Trifolium hirtum, commonly known as rose clover, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is indigenous to a range of regions spanning Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to other parts of the world where it is cultivated for various purposes.

<i>Trifolium macrocephalum</i> Species of legume

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<i>Trifolium microcephalum</i> Species of legume

Trifolium microcephalum is a species of clover known by the common names smallhead clover and small-headed clover.

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References

  1.  Trifolium aureum was originally described and published in Historia Plantarum in Palatinatu Electoralis 2: 344–345. 1777. "Name - Trifolium aureum Pollich". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden . Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  2. "Name - Trifolium aureum Pollich synonyms". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Trifolium aureum". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  4. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  5. 1 2 3 "Profile for Trifolium aureum (golden clover)". PLANTS Database. USDA, NRCS . Retrieved May 14, 2012.

Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). The Illustrated Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN   0-340-40170-2.