Trifolium wormskioldii

Trifolium wormskioldii
Conservation status

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Trifolium
Species: T. wormskioldii
Binomial name
Trifolium wormskioldii
Lehm.
Synonyms

Lupinaster wormskioldii
Trifolium fendleri
Trifolium fimbriatum
Trifolium heterodon
Trifolium kennedianum
Trifolium spinulosum

Trifolium wormskioldii is a species of clover native to the western half of North America from Alaska, through California, to Mexico.[1] Its common names include cow clover, coast clover, sand clover, seaside clover, springbank clover,[2] and Wormskjold's clover.[1]

This plant grows in many types of habitat, from beaches to mountain ridges, below about 3200 meters in elevation.[3]

Description

Trifolium wormskioldii, a legume. is a perennial herb sometimes taking a matlike form, with decumbent or upright stems. The leaves are made up of leaflets measuring 1 to 3 centimeters long. The lower stipules are tipped with bristles and the upper stipules may be toothed.

The rounded inflorescences are 2 or 3 centimeter wide. The sepals are bristle-tipped. The corollas are pinkish purple or magenta with white tips.[3]

Uses

Many Native American groups of western North America used this clover for food. The herbage and flowers were eaten raw, sometimes salted. The roots were commonly steamed or boiled and eaten with fish, fish eggs, and fish grease.[4]

This species is host to the caterpillar of the Western cloudywing butterfly (Thorybes diversus).[5]

Etymology

The species was given its scientific name in honour of the Danish botanist Morten Wormskjold.[6]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Trifolium wormskioldii. The Nature Conservancy.
  2. ↑ Trifolium wormskioldii Lehm. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jepson T. wormskioldii
  4. ↑ Trifolium wormskioldii. Native American Ethnobotany. University of Michigan, Dearborn.
  5. ↑ Thorybes diversus. Butterflies and Moths of North America.
  6. ↑ Charters, M. L. "wormskioldii". California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations.

External links

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