BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Trifolium cyathiferum
cup clover
| Scientific Name: | Trifolium cyathiferum Lindl. | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | cup clover | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vascular Plant | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | TRIFCYA | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G4 (Jan 1990) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S3S4 (Apr 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 2 - May be at risk (2010) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | Cup Clover is a hairless annual herb with ascending or erect stems which stand 1-5 dm tall. Small "3-leaf clover" leaves are borne alternately on the stems, each leaf having 2 stipules (appendages) at the base of a long petiole (stalk) which bears 3 leaflets with toothed margins. Clover heads are borne on leafless peduncles (stalks which support an inflorescence) from leaf axils. Each head consists of 5-30 flowers cupped within a shallowly lobed, prominently veined, finely toothed involucre (whorl of bracts, in this case fused together, which subtend an inflorescence); the heads are 5-15 mm long and about the same width. The small flowers are about 2-5 mm long and have bilateral symmetry. The calyx has a 13-20 nerved tube and 5 teeth; the lower 3 teeth each have 2 or 3 bristle-like tips. The white, cream, or pink corolla is about as long as the tips of the calyx teeth, and consists of a banner (the large, hooding, upper segment), the wings (the side segments) and a keel (the prow shaped bottom segment). The fruit is a pod with usually 2 seeds. | ||||||||||
| Technical Description: | |||||||||||
| Diagnostic Characteristics: | Distinguished from other Montana TRIFOLIUM by combining annual habit, flower heads subtended by a shallowly lobed involucre, and lower calyx teeth with 2-3 bristle-tips. | ||||||||||
| Similar Species: | |||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Grassland/Shrub / Garry Oak Maritime Meadow / Obligate
Other Unique Habitats / Vernal Pools/Seasonal Seeps / Obligate Riparian / Riparian Forest / Obligate Riparian / Riparian Shrub / Obligate |
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Elevation (m) (min / max): | Provincial: | ||||||||||
| Known Pests: | |||||||||||
| Pollen Vector: | |||||||||||
| Pollinator: | |||||||||||
| Dispersal: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Inventory | |||||||||||
| Inventory Priority: | |||||||||||
| Ownership of occurrences (Known locations): | |||||||||||
| Inventory Need: | |||||||||||
| Economic Attributes | |||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | B.C. to CA, east to ID and w. MT. Peripheral. | ||||||||||
| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | JM | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Dec 12, 1994 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| Last Literature Search: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Penny. 2002. Rare Native Vascular Plants of British Columbia, 2nd ed. B.C. Conserv. Data Centre, Terrestrial Inf. Branch, Victoria. 358pp. |
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Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Pojar. eds. 1999. Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, Vol. 3, Dicotyledons (Diapensiaceae through Onagraceae). B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, and B.C. Minist. For., Victoria. 423pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Trifolium cyathiferum. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 9, 2026).