Trifolium dubium

Thread - clover ( Trifolium dubium )

The thread called Clover (Trifolium dubium ), also: Shamrock or Doubtful clover, is a species of the genus clover. This species is native throughout Europe and widespread in Central Europe.

Description of the plant

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

The very short -stalked, alternate permanent leaves are bluish- green, glabrous and three parts. The reversed ovoid leaflets are 0.8 to 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 top half is easily perforated. The terminal portion of leaf, in contrast to the other long-stalked. The herbaceous, ovate, pointed stipules are fused with short petioles and are 3-5 millimeters long.

Thread - clover blooms from May to October. The inflorescence axes are thready and significantly longer than the opposite leaves. The axillary, hemispherical to spherical, racemose inflorescences have a length 8-9 millimeters long and a diameter of 6 to 7 mm on. They consist of 3 to 20 butterfly flowers. The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and fünfzählig. The flower stalks ( pedicel ) are less than 1 millimeter long and erect, in fruit ripening then bent. The sepals fused bell-shaped and 1.5 to 2 millimeters long. The five annoying and bald calyx ends in five calyx teeth. The lower calyx teeth are almost twice as long as the calyx tube, the upper shorter than this. Of the five yellow petals, some have grown. During ripening they turn to brown. The crown is about 4 millimeters high. The petals are ovate, smooth and folded lengthwise with a funnel- shaped ribs bundles in each half. The edge is wholly or partly denticulate. The wings are nailed and shorter than in other species of the genus Trifolium. Nine of the ten stamens are fused and one free. The upper permanent ovary is long stalks and longer than the pen.

It is formed a single-seeded legumes, which is 2 to 3 millimeters long and 1.5 millimeters wide. The stylus is also in fruit ripening and receive fills one quarter to one third of the fruit. The seeds are ellipsoidal, light brown and about 1.3 millimeters long. The seed is very light, about 2 million seeds weigh one kilogram.

The chromosome number is 2n = 16, 28

Ecology

As pollinators, bumblebees are usually to be found. The spread of the seeds is mostly due to the wind ( Anemochorie ), but often comes before the spread of burr -like fruits. The seeds remain viable for over 20 years.

Dissemination

The thread - clover grows mainly on sandy soils, often on the edges of pastures.

The species is native throughout Europe. The range extends to the west up to and including the whole of Portugal and in the south to 42 ° north latitude, which corresponds approximately to the height of Rome and Skopje. In the north, in Scandinavia, it extends to the latitude 60 ° N, which corresponds approximately to the height of Oslo. Some locations also lie further north. To the east, the range extends to the Caucasus and further north as far as Moscow. It is widespread throughout Germany. Neophyte reserves are found in Pakistan and on the east coast of the United States.

Use

Thread contains clover as a forage crop a lot of energy and is often eaten. Because of high cost and low seed nursery but he plays no role in agriculture. With thread - clover can view a maximum of achieving a yield of one tonne per hectare.

The species has medicinal benefits, it is bleeding stopping when a slurry is applied from crushed leaves on wounds.

Swell

• Amanda Spooner, James Carpenter, Gillian Smith & Kim Spence, 2007: Description in the Western Autralian flora. (English )