Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Trifolium reflexum
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Buffalo Clover from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
This species appears to have declined very significantly in recent decades across most or all of its distribution, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trifolium reflexum
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Trifolium reflexum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Trifolium reflexum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-14-010:
Trifolium reflexum FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Trifolium reflexum
COMMON NAME:
Buffalo Clover
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Jane Trentin jtr_3734b
May Pike County GA
Camp Thunder
Flowers borne on distinct pedicels, often curving or reflexing in age, per Weakley's Flora (2015).
)
Jane Trentin jtr_3734c
May Pike County GA
Camp Thunder
Calyx lobes 4mm or more long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_trifolium_reflexum_2
May
Standard usually red, decidedly darker than pink-to-white wing & keel petals, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_trifolium_reflexum_2b
May
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_t_reflexum_0032
May Iredell County NC
Leaflets 1-2.8x as long as wide; stems erect or ascending, per Weakley's Flora.
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and palmately compound
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Terry Holdsclaw tdh_t_reflexum_0034b
May Iredell County NC
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_t_reflexum_0034c
May Iredell County NC
Calyx lobes subulate [awl-shaped], setaceous [having bristles], < 0.4mm wide, per Weakley's Flora.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Trifolium reflexum
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Trifolium reflexum
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Trifolium reflexum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Trifolium reflexum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-14-010:
Trifolium reflexum
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Trifolium reflexum
2673
Forb
Annual/Biennial
Habitat: Open woodlands, woodland edges, dry shaly places, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Palmately compound: 3 leaflets
Mostly alternate
Stipules conspicuous, persistent, & adnate to the petiole
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Red/Rose/White/Pinkish->Brownish
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p090
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p034
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p125
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p209
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p143
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p180
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p085