''Trifolium barbigerum'' is a species of

clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

known by the common name bearded clover.Calflora: ''Trifolium barbigerum''
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Distribution

The plant is native to central coastal and

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, below in elevation. Areas it is found include on the northern

Channel Islands of California The Channel Islands () are an eight-island archipelago located within the Southern California Bight in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. They define the Santa Barbara Channel between the islands and the California mainland. The ...

, the

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte County, California, Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Trans ...

, and around the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. It grows in many types of habitat, including coastal prairie, mixed evergreen forest, closed-cone pine forest, and

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

−

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

areas. It is also found in disturbed and cultivated areas.

Description

''Trifolium barbigerum'' is an annual herb growing decumbent to erect in form and hairy to hairless in texture. The leaves are divided into oval leaflets up to 2.5 centimeters long, sometimes having notches at the tips. The

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s on the leaves are large and variable in shape. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a head of flowers up to 2.5 centimeters wide. The flowers are held in a bowl-shaped involucre of

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s with toothed edges. Each flower has a 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 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s narrowing into one or more bristles which are coated with long hairs. Within each calyx is the flower corolla which may be pinkish purple, white, or bicolored purple and white. The bloom period is April to July.

Varieties

''Trifolium barbigerum'' was formerly discussed classified with two varieties, that are not in current use: *''Trifolium barbigerum'' var. ''andrewsii'' — reclassified as ''Trifolium grayi''. *''Trifolium. barbigerum'' var. ''barbigerum'' — reclassified as a synonym of ''Trifolium barbigerum''.Calflora: ''Trifolium. barbigerum'' var. ''barbigerum''; not an active name; see ''Trifolium barbigerum''
. accessed 2.28.2016.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Trifolium barbigerum'' (Bearded clover)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Trifolium barbigerum''UC CalPhotos gallery: ''Trifolium barbigerum''
barbigerum Flora of California Flora of Oregon Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Trifolieae-stub