Flora-Fauna

Trifolium purpureum Loisel.

First published in Fl. Gall.: 484 (1807).

(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, pp. 277–278, Pl. CV, 5; 1970)

Description

Life-form & habit: Annual herb 20–50 cm tall, with erect or ascending stems clothed in spreading hairs.

Leaves: Leaflets usually narrow, lanceolate-linear, sometimes shorter and elliptic. Stipules membranous, narrow and pointed, their free part prolonged into a slender tip.

Inflorescence & flowers: Heads ovate or conical at first, becoming oblong to cylindrical, sometimes subtended by the uppermost leaf. Calyx teeth finely pointed and unequal, with the lowest longer than the others, bearing dense spreading reddish hairs. Corolla usually deep pink-purple, occasionally pale pink or pale lilac.

Flowering and habitat

Phenology: Flowering March–June.

Habitat & elevation: Fields, grassy places and roadsides.

Distribution

Lebanese distribution: Ras Bayada, Tyr, Saida, Ras Jedra, Bir Hassen, north of Damour, Beirut, Antelias, Nahr el Kalb, Tripoli, Abey, Chemlan, Antoura, Asfouriyeh, Jamhour, Mkalles, Broummana, Sfire, Baabda, Baskinta, Mdeirej, Mogher, Baalbeck, Ain Ata, Bekish, Kornet Chehwan, Fraikeh and Bqaatouta.

Syrian distribution: Tartous and its southern surroundings, Banias, Latakia, Ras Chamra, Wadi Qandil, Qastal Maaf, Khan Serri, the Tigris banks, Tell Kalakh, north of Deraa, north of Qneitra, Soueida, Chahba, Kafer and Hamme.

Native range: Albania, Algeria, Bulgaria, East Aegean Is., Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Morocco, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Romania, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe.

Introduced into: Germany.

⚠️ Taxonomic note:

Kew accepts Trifolium purpureum, including var. desvauxii. Mouterde's separately listed localities for the former forma blancheanum are not included here, because Kew now accepts Trifolium blancheanum as a separate species.