Acmispon argophyllus var. niveus

Santa cruz island bird's-foot trefoil, Santa Cruz Island bird's-foot trefoil, Santa Cruz Island bird's-foot trefoil

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Santa Cruz island bird's-foot trefoil is a California native perennial ranked 4.3 by CNPS, found in the northern Channel Islands on Santa Cruz Island in rocky slopes and dry riverbeds at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces creamy white to yellow flowers in compact clusters less than one centimeter wide. Growing with ascending silky stems that are partially woody, it develops an open, loosely branching form reaching 15 to 30 centimeters tall. Its delicate leaves are not overlapping, with small leaflets arranged in the classic trefoil pattern typical of the bird's-foot trefoil genus. The plant's distinctive silvery-silky texture and compact flower clusters make it a unique endemic to Santa Cruz Island.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, dry riverbeds

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: n ChI (Santa Cruz Island).

California counties: Santa Barbara, Los Angeles

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.