Trifolium purpureum
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Trifolium purpureum is a species of the genus clover ( Trifolium ). It is placed in the genus in the section Trifolium , subsection Angustifolia .
description
Trifolium purpureum is an annual , herbaceous plant that reaches heights of between 10 and 50 centimeters. The stem axis is striped and branched, often many stems are close together. It is almost always upright, but rarely ascending.
The lower leaves have long stalks. The leaf stalks are getting shorter towards the top. The leaves are dreifedrig, the individual pinna between 1 and 6 inches long and 0.1 to 1 centimeter wide. The blades are elongated, lanceolate or linear. The leaf margin is hairy. The stipules are elongated, lanceolate and multi-veined. They are 1 to 1.5 inches long. The free part is subordinate. The stipules are paper-like between the leaf veins.
The inflorescences sit terminally on the stems or branches. They are conical to ovoid during anthesis , but deform towards the cylindrical when the fruit ripens.
The calyx is up to 1 centimeter long and hairy pressed down. It is tubular in the lower part (about 3 millimeters long). The calyx teeth are unequal, the lower ones almost twice as long as the upper ones. The crown sticks out to one third of the cup. The upper part is purple, the lower whitish-purple.
When the fruit is ripe, the calyx tube closes with two hairy thickenings. The calyx teeth stick out. The legumes are cuticle-like, egg-shaped with a leathery tip. The seeds are yellowish to orange-brown.
The chromosome number is 2n = 14.
distribution
The distribution area of Trifolium purpureum includes southern Europe from Romania to Portugal, the Crimea to Israel and North Africa from Egypt to Morocco. The species is also found in the Azores, the Canaries and Madeira. Neophytic occurrences are found in Massachusetts in the eastern United States.
Trifolium purpureum grows in fields, along roadsides and under bushes. The species loves stony, sandy soil.
literature
- Michael Zohary, David Heller: The Genus Trifolium . The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities , Jerusalem 1984, ISBN 978-965-208-056-1 , pp. 450 f .
- John M. Gillett, Norman L. Taylor, M. Gillett: The World of Clovers . Iowa State University Press , Ames 2001, ISBN 978-0-8138-2986-9 , pp. 332 f .