Prairie trefoil

Images

Click on image to view full size

Prairie trefoil

Prairie trefoil

Prairie trefoil

Prairie trefoil leaf

Prairie trefoil

Prairie trefoil

Prairie trefoil

Morphology

Stem

Erect, much branched, silky pubescent when young, glabrous when older.

Leaves

Alternate, nearly sessile, 3-foliolate; leaflets lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 2/5 to 1 inch long, silky-pubescent; tips pointed.

Inflorescence

1-2 flowers on stalks in upper leaf axils; subtended by single leaf-like bract.

Flower

Calyx tubular-bell-shaped, soft hairy; teeth narrowly lanceolate, unequal; corolla papilionaceous, 1/5 to 1/3 inch long, pink with darker veins, white with pink veins, or rarely cream-colored; banner egg-shaped, 1/4 to 1/3 inch long; wings and keel less than 1/4 inch long; keel tip yellowish; stamens 10, 9 united, 1 free.

Fruit

Pod, spreading or bent downward, straight, narrowly oblong, .8 to 1.6 inches long, circular in cross-section, glabrous; seeds many, tiny, olive to light brown, often mottled, somewhat shiny.

Ecology

Habitat

Prairie plains, rocky hillsides, stream valleys, roadsides, dunes waste areas; open, sandy soils.

Distribution

Central 1/3 and southeast corner.

Practical Information

Forage Value

Livestock will eat the immature plant.

Uses

Quail consume the seeds.

Synonyms

Alternative scientific names that have been used for this plant.