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 Leaves and seed pods Liz Makings @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | | |
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Origin:
Introduced
Life Cycle:
Annual
General Desc:
Three heart shaped leaflets, toothed near the apex, generally with dark blotches in the center. Hairy stems are ascending and are 4 to 16 inches long. Fruit pods are spirally coiled and prickled with hairs between prickles. This plant is rare.
Identification notes: Herbage with soft hairs; stipules (leaf-like appendages at the base of leaf stems) narrow. Pods spirally coiled, several seeded, prickly.
Height:
Trailing, 4 to 16 inches
Habitat Description: Turf, roadsides, fields, grasslands, pastures, agricultural sites (especially alfalfa fields) and other disturbed sites.
Plant Communities:
Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 100 - 3300 feet
Color:
Yellow
Shape:
Irregular in elongated clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Mar - Jun
Description:
Small, bright yellow flowers are clustered at the stem tips.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Compound
Leaf Shape:
Round or oval
Leaf Margin:
Toothed
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Cotyledons (seed leaves) are oblong. The first true leaf is rounded. Later leaves are composed of three leaflets and have a clover-like shape.
Fruit Color: Brown
Fruit Type: Pod
Fruit Notes: Fruits are the most distinctive character, being spirally wound and armed with what appear to be small fishhooks. The pods are mostly brown, hairless and smooth.
Seed Notes: Several yellowish or tan, kidney-shaped seeds are contained in each pod.
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