Trifolium aureum
Gold Clover (Trifolium aureum )
Gold Clover (Trifolium aureum ) is a species of the genus clover ( Trifolium ), the subfamily Fabaceae ( Faboideae ) of the plant family Leguminosae ( Fabaceae ) is one.
Description
Gold Clover is a one or two perennial herbaceous plant, reaching the heights of growth between 20 and 60 centimeters. The fitting hairy stems are branched, erect or ascending and plentiful.
The three-part leaves are quite large for clover and short- stalked. The petioles are longer or just as long as the stipules usually. The häutchenartigen stipules are oblong lanceolate, not widened at the base, distinctly ribbed, oblong lanceolate and acuminate. They deformed at least as long as the shaft journal and at least half of its length. The leaflets are between 1.5 and 2.5 centimeters long and 0.6 to 0.8 inches wide. You are almost sessile and oblong lanceolate, ovate, elliptic to rhombic. The base is wedge-shaped, the tip sharp or oblong, emarginate often truncate to. The edge of the upper half of the leaflets serrate.
Gold clover blooms from July to August. The terminal inflorescences aged men are spherical. They are 1.2 to 2 inches long and about 1.3 inches wide and is made of 20 to 40 ( or more ) butterfly flowers. The inflorescence axes are 2 to 5 inches long.
The flower stalk has a length of about 1 millimeter. The hermaphrodite, zygomorphe flower is fünfzählig.
The five sepals are fused together into an approximately 2 millimeters high, inverted cone-shaped tube. The lower cup teeth are from 2 to 2.5 times longer than the upper one. Of the five nailed some petals are fused. The petals are only bright yellow gold, after anthesis they turn to brown. The crown is 7 to 8 millimeters high. The limbus of the flag is shallow or deep spoon-shaped with a hollow tapered basal end ( nailed ), not folded and clearly längsgefurcht. The bottom half is denticulate ausgerandet the tip deeply furrowed and wrinkled longitudinally. The wings are unusually short for clover and stand apart. The boat is as long as the wings.
The only constant upper carpel is stalked oblong and long. Derterminal or lateral standing stylus is longer than the ovary.
It is made to a single-seeded legume, which is longer than the pen. The inverted ovoid to ellipsoidal, yellowish brown seed has a diameter of about 1.2 millimeters.
The chromosome number is 2n = 14
Dissemination and locations
The species is often found after clearcuts and along roadsides. The Gold Clover preferred mostly lime-free, acidic, nutrient- poor, loamy or sandy soils.
The natural range includes a complete Europe with the exception of the British Isles. The northern boundary runs through southern Scandinavia. To the east, the kind in the Middle East has spread to Lebanon, and northern Iran, and to Transcaucasia.
In Germany the species is generally scattered in North West Germany it is missing in parts quite. In Austria and Switzerland, you will find the gold clover scattered to fairly common in hill and subalpine zones.
In almost all of North America, the species is widely used as a neophyte. It was first introduced in 1800 to Pennsylvania. Also in Australia and New Zealand exist neophyte occurrence.
Subspecies
We have described two subspecies:
- T. a Poll. subsp. aureum: With short, cup-shaped bracts. At least the upper leaves are rounded. The chalice is bald
- T. a subsp. barbulatum Freyn et Sint. ex Freyn: With fringed bracts. At least the upper leaves are pointed. The cup is almost as high as the crown and ciliated on the teeth. This subspecies has been described so far only from Turkey.