''Trifolium lemmonii'' is a species of

clover Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

known by the common name Lemmon's clover.

Distribution

The plant is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the northern Sierra Nevada in eastern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and just into

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. It is a resident of the coniferous forests and sagebrush of the High Sierra. Some populations are protected within the

Plumas National Forest Plumas National Forest is a 1,146,000-acre (4,638 km2) United States National Forest located at the northern terminus of the Sierra Nevada, in northern California. The Forest was named after its primary watershed, the Rio de las Plumas, or Fe ...

and

Tahoe National Forest Tahoe National Forest is a United States National Forest located in California, northwest of Lake Tahoe. It includes the peak of Sierra Buttes, near Sierra City, which has views of Mount Lassen and Mount Shasta. It is located in parts of six co ...

. It is California Department of Fish and Wildlife and IUCN listed

Vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve. Vulnera ...

, and is on the

California Native Plant Society The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a California environmental non-profit organization (501(c)3) that seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve it for future generations. The mission of CNPS is to con ...

Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants. California Native Plant Society, Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (online edition, v8-02): ''Trifolium lemmonii''
. accessed 2.28.2016.

Description

''Trifolium lemmonii'' is a perennial herb spreading to form a mat or low clump. Each leaf is made up of 3 to 7 thick oval leaflets. The leaflets are 1 to 2 centimeters long, toothed on the edges, and coated in rough hairs. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a spherical umbel roughly 2 centimeters wide borne on an erect, arching peduncle. The flowers spread and droop from their attachment. Each has a hairy calyx of

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s with narrow, bristlelike lobes. The flower corolla is pale pink in color and just over a centimeter in length.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Trifolium lemmonii'' (Lemmon's clover)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Trifolium lemmonii''UC CalPhotos gallery: ''Trifolium lemmonii''
lemmonii Flora of California Flora of Nevada Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Endemic flora of the United States ~ ~ Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Trifolieae-stub