Family |
Fabaceae
Trifolium resupinatum
L.
Trifolium resupinatum L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 771 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 291, Pl. CX, 7; 1970)
Description
Life-form & habit: Hairless annual herb with spreading or ascending stems 20–50 cm long.
Leaves: Long-stalked leaves with obovate, saw-toothed leaflets. Stipules membranous, lanceolate at the base and tapering into a long point.
Inflorescence & flowers: Heads become spherical and have a small, rudimentary involucre; their stalks equal or slightly exceed the adjacent leaves. Flowers sessile and inverted, with the standard below the wings and keel. Corolla pink, occasionally white, at least twice as long as the calyx.
Fruit: Fruiting calyces enlarge into membranous, net-veined bladders, each topped by two elongated, slightly curved teeth. Their upright arrangement gives the fruiting head a many-pointed, star-like outline.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering March–April.
Habitat & elevation: Grassy places and roadsides.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Tyr, Nahr Damour, Beirut, Batroun, Tripoli, Qornet el Hamra and Baskinta.
Syrian distribution: Ghouta, Harasta, Tell Kalakh, east of Wadi el Qarn, Raqqa, Hamme and Jisr ech Choghour.
Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Egypt, France, Greece, Gulf States, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Nepal, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Palestine, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, West Himalaya.
Introduced into: Alabama, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Arkansas, Austria, Azores, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, California, Cape Provinces, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, District of Columbia, Eritrea, Florida, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Hawaii, Hungary, Illinois, India, Indiana, Iowa, Japan, Kansas, Kentucky, Kirgizstan, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Netherlands, New South Wales, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Portugal, South Australia, South Carolina, South Dakota, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Tasmania, Tennessee, Texas, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vermont, Victoria, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Western Australia, Wisconsin.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Distinct from Trifolium clusii, whose strongly bent fruiting calyces form a compact head. Older records sometimes combined these species.