Trifolium gymnocarpon

General: Perennial, tufted; plants acaulescent or nearly so; caudex branched, woody; taprooted. Leaves: Basal, alternate, trifoliate, seldom 4 or 5 leaflets, these obovate, oblanceolate, elliptic, or elliptic- obovate, 5-23 mm long, 2-10 mm wide, distinctly pinnately veined, yellow-green and glabrous above, gray-green and strigose below, margins sharply denticulate, apex mucronate; stipules broadly ovate, triangular, or lanceolate, 5-25 mm long, leaf-like, margins denticulate; petioles 1.5-12 cm long. Flowers: Inflorescence a terminal raceme, 7-30 flowered, loose to moderately dense; peduncle and rachis 10-30 cm long; calyx campanulate, 8-13 mm long, pilose; corolla 17-23 mm long, yellow; flowers April-July. Fruits: Legume, 4-6 mm long, more-or-less exserted from withering calyx tube; seeds 1-2. Ecology: Ponderosa pine, spruce-fir, aspen forests; 2000-3000 m (6500-10000 ft); Apache, Coconino, and Navajo counties; western and southwestern U.S. Notes: Trifolium andinum (Intermountain clover) is very similar to T. gymnocarpon, but is distinguished by the margins of the leaflets being nearly entire or denticulate towards the apex, and the heads subtended by 2-3 broad bracts, these often bearing reduced trifoliate blades. It has been reported in our area only on the Kaibab Plateau in Coconino County. Editor: Springer et al. 2008