Trifolium setiferum Boiss., Diagn. Pl. Orient. ser. 1, 2: 32. 1843 [Mar 1843]

Scoppola, Anna, Lattanzi, Edda & Bernardo, Liliana, 2016, Distribution and taxonomy of the Italian clovers belonging to Trifolium sect. Vesicastrum subsect. Mystillus (Fabaceae), Italian Botanist 2, pp. 7-27 : 13

Trifolium setiferum Boiss., Diagn. Pl. Orient. ser. 1, 2: 32. 1843 [Mar 1843]

Type

(holotype indicated by Zohary and Heller 1984: 280): (Prov. Izmir) Montagne de Jenidje, May 1842, Boissier (G).

Description.

Heads small; fruiting calyx inflated, calyx teeth with ciliolate base; longitudinal veins numerous; corolla longer than calyx. Seeds brown ( Zohary and Heller 1984).

Updated geographical distribution.

Calabria: - (new), Sicily: - (new).

Notes.

Described from the Province of Izmir in Turkey, it is probably an eastern Mediterranean endemic naturally occurring only in Turkey and Greece, although many sources suggest it has a wider distribution based on its assumptive synonymy with Trifolium rumelicum and/or Trifolium multistriatum . We agree with Boissier (1872) and Zohary and Heller (1984) who separate this species from the latter based on the smaller size of the flower heads, the different shape of the leaves, the inflated calyces characterized by bristles at the base of the teeth. Pignatti (1982) does not report the species at all in Italy. All citations for Italy in fact have to be referred to Trifolium multistriatum ( Zangheri 1976, Greuter et al. 1989, Scoppola and Lattanzi, 2016). The species is only reported for Calabria by Zohary and Heller (1984), who probably refer to the same sample of Trifolium multistriatum by Fiori of 1899 (FI, RO!) also cited under the name Trifolium vesiculosum var. rumelicum . Greuter et al. (1989) report it as putative species for the mainland and Sicily also according to the synonymy with Trifolium vesiculosum subsp. multistriatum (W.D.J.Koch) Arcang., indicated by Zangheri (1976), who reported the entity in southern Italy and Sicily. Accordingly, no evidence was found to confirm its presence on the Italian territory.