Thread clover

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Thread clover
Thread clover (Trifolium dubium)

Thread clover ( Trifolium dubium )

Systematics
Family : Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily : Butterflies (Faboideae)
Genre : Clover ( trifolium )
Section : Chronosemium
Series : Filiformia
Type : Thread clover
Scientific name
Trifolium dubium
Sibth.

The thread clover ( Trifolium dubium ), also called small clover or doubtful clover , is a species of the genus clover ( Trifolium ) in the subfamily of the butterflies (Faboideae) within the family of the legumes (Fabaceae or Leguminosae). It is widespread across Europe.

description

Illustration from Flora Batava , Volume 11

Appearance and leaf

The thread clover is an annual , herbaceous plant that reaches heights of between 20 and 40 centimeters. The often sparse, brownish hairy stems are upright or prostrate, often twisted and rarely branched.

The very short-stalked, alternate leaves are bluish-green, glabrous and tripartite. The obovate leaflets are between 0.8 and 1.1 inches long and 0.4 to 0.7 inches wide. The base is wedge-shaped and the tip is rounded or slightly notched. The upper half is slightly serrated. In contrast to the others, the terminal partial leaf is long-stalked. The herbaceous, egg-shaped, pointed stipules are briefly fused with the petioles and are 3 to 5 millimeters long.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from May to October. The inflorescence axes are thread-shaped and significantly longer than the opposite leaves. The lateral, hemispherical to spherical, racemose inflorescences have a length of 8 to 9 millimeters and a diameter of 6 to 7 millimeters. They contain 3 to 20 butterfly flowers .

The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The flower stalks (Pedicellus) are less than 1 millimeter long and upright, then curved when the fruit is ripe. The sepals are fused bell-shaped and 1.5 to 2 millimeters long. The five-nerved and bald calyx ends in five calyx teeth. The lower calyx teeth are almost twice as long as the calyx tube, the upper ones shorter than this. Some of the five yellow petals have grown together. They turn brown as the fruit ripens. The corolla is about 4 millimeters high and has the typical shape of the butterfly flower . The petals are egg-shaped, smooth and folded lengthways with a funnel-shaped bundle of ribs in each half. The edge is completely or partially serrated. The wings are nailed and shorter than other species of the genus Trifolium . Of the ten stamens, nine are fused and one is free. The Upper constant ovary is stalked long and longer than the stylus .

A single-seeded legume is formed that is 2 to 3 millimeters long and 1.5 millimeters wide. The style is retained even when the fruit is ripe and fills a quarter to a third of the fruit. The seeds are ellipsoidal, light brown and about 1.3 millimeters long. The seed is very light, about 2,000,000 seeds weigh one kilogram.

Chromosome number

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 16, 28 or 32.

Stand with habit, leaves and inflorescences

ecology

The thread clover is a mesomorphic therophyte .

Bumblebees are mostly found as pollinators .

The seeds are mostly spread by the wind ( anemochory ), but the Velcro-like fruits also spread. The seeds remain viable for over 20 years.

Occurrence

The thread clover is a European floral element . The area of the thread clover extends from Portugal and France in the west to the Caucasus in the east; northward its distribution area extends to Scandinavia , up to 60 ° north latitude, which corresponds approximately to the height of Oslo, and southward to the southern Mediterranean , where its occurrence decreases, however, to 42 ° north latitude, which is about the height of Rome and Skopjes corresponds. However, individual locations are also further north. To the east the distribution area extends to the Caucasus and further north to about Moscow. Neophytic occurrences are found in Pakistan and on the east coast of the United States.

It is very common in Central Europe , but is inconspicuous and is therefore sometimes overlooked. It is widespread throughout Germany .

In Central Europe it inhabits fat meadows, pastures (often on the edges) and garden lawns. It rises locally over 1500 meters in the Alps . The thread clover thrives best on humus-rich , loamy soils which , by the way, can be low in lime or lime , lean or rich in nutrients, primarily on sandy soils. It has its main distribution center in societies of the Association Arrhenatherion, but it also occurs in societies of the Association Cynosurion and less often the Association Polygono-Trisetion.

use

As a fodder plant, thread clover contains a lot of energy and is eaten with pleasure. Because of the high seed costs and low growth, however, it does not play a role in agriculture. With thread clover a maximum yield of one ton per hectare can be achieved.

The thread clover has medicinal benefits, it stops bleeding when a pulp made from crushed leaves is applied to wounds.

Similar Art

The thread clover is very similar in habit to the hop clover ( Medicago lupulina ). However, while the calyx is hairy in the hop clover, it is bare in the thread clover.

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Individual evidence

Most of the information in this article has been taken from the sources given under literature; the following sources are also cited:

  1. ↑ a b c Trifolium dubium Sibth., Kleiner Klee. In: FloraWeb.de.
  2. ↑ John Frame: Trifolium dubium Sibth. In: Grassland and Pasture / Crop Systems. FAO Crop and Grassland Service, accessed November 16, 2015 .
  3. ^ Trifolium dubium at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  4. ↑ a b Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (ed.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 3: Special part (Spermatophyta, subclass Rosidae): Droseraceae to Fabaceae. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8001-3314-8 .
  5. ↑ a b c Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe . 2nd Edition. tape 2 : Yew family to butterfly family . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08048-X .
  6. ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  592 .
  7. ↑ M. Dachler, A. Köchl: The effect of different green manure plants on the yield and proceeds of the subsequent crop . Agricultural-Chemical Federal Institute, Vienna 1994 ( PDF ).
  8. ^ Trifolium dubium at Plants For A Future . Retrieved May 23, 2008.
  9. ^ Manfred A. Fischer, Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol . 3rd, improved edition. Province of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 , p. 573 .

literature

  • Michael Zohary, David Heller: The Genus Trifolium . The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem 1984, ISBN 965-208-056-X , pp. 343 f .
  • SI Ali: Trifolium dubium . In: Flora of Pakistan . tape 100 . Karachi 1977, p. 289 ( online [accessed May 21, 2008]).
  • Margot Spohn, Marianne Golte-Bechtle: What is blooming there? Encyclopedia, Kosmosverlag, 2005.

Web links

Commons : Thread clover ( Trifolium dubium )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files