Trifolium dubium

Identification tip: Similar to Tephrosia spicata, brown hair tephrosia, but may be distinguished by its flower stalk which is nodding while those of T. spicata are erect. Also, the foliage of Tephrosia onobrachoides is grayish green while T. spicata is rust colored due to a covering of brown hairs. Tephrosia virginiana has generally smaller leaflets and is the only species of Tephrosia which has erect simple stems and terminal inflorescences. It is also found on drier sites than most Tephrosias (Grelen and Hughes, 1984).

The following information is for the genus Trifolium: Animals that eat its foliage, seeds: Pectoral sandpiper, Greater prairie chicken, Chestnut-bellied scaled quail, Wild turkey, Pocket gopher, Meadow mouse, Pine mouse. Animals that eat its seeds: Horned lark, Pipit, Animals that eat the plant: Beaver, Muskrat, Cottontail rabbit, Mearns cottontail rabbit, Raccoon, Eastern skunk, White-tailed deer (Martin et al. 1951).

Trifolium dubium is self-fertilized (USDA 1948). A native of Europe, it is now naturalized in grassy places throughout Louisiana and east Texas.

Roadsides, waste places, lawns, fields, pastures.