Trifolium suffocatum L.
suffocated clover
Annual; stems glabrous, procumbent, not rooting at nodes. Lvs glabrous; petioles c. 10-80 mm long; leaflets obtriangular to obovate, obtuse, mucronate, cuneate at base, finely serrate, c. 3-15 mm long; lateral veins thin and straight to leaflet margin; petiolules < 1 mm long, ± equal; stipules ovate, acuminate. Infls axillary, spicate, globose, sessile, densely crowded on the short stems; fls numerous, sessile, remaining ± erect at fruiting; bracts subtending fls free. Calyx sparsely hairy, with 10 indistinct veins, not inflated at fruiting; throat open, ± glabrous; calyx teeth subequal, > corolla, triangular, ± = tube, slightly recurved at fruiting; sinuses acute. Corolla whitish, persistent, 2-3 mm long. Pod glabrous, straight, < calyx, 2-3 mm long, (1)-2-seeded; seeds c. 1 mm diam.
N.: collected twice from N. Auckland, locally common in S. Wellington Province; S.: Wairau and Awatere Valleys, N. Canterbury, vicinity of Christchurch and Banks Peninsula.
W. Europe, Mediterranean to W. Asia, N. Africa 1926
Dry waste places, depleted pasture, coastal habitats and riverbeds.
FL Oct-May.
Suffocated clover is distinguished from the related T. glomeratum by the long narrow leaflets and densely crowded heads. Healy, A. J., Identification of Weeds and Clovers ed. 3 (1982), noted that this sp. may be overlooked because of its short life and small size, and so may be more widespread than the above distribution suggests.
