Annual, much-branched, 1-4 dm, the stem pubescent; petioles 8-12 mm, twice as long as the obliquely ovate stipules; lfls oblong-obovate, 8-15 mm, the terminal one on a stalk 1-3 mm; heads globose to short-cylindric, 8-15 mm, compact, with usually 20-30 fls; fls 3.5-5 mm; cal as in no. 15 [Trifolium aureum Pollich]; cor yellow, the standard obovate, with 5 conspicuous diagonal veins on each side, much exceeding the spoon-shaped, slightly divergent wings; 2n=14. Native of Eurasia and n. Afr., established as a weed along roadsides and in waste places throughout much of N. Amer. May-Sept. (T. procumbens, a rejected name)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.