Medicago arabica

Burclover, spotted burclover, Spotted Burclover

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Burclover is a naturalized annual found in northern California coastal, central California, and central valley regions in disturbed agricultural areas, fields, and woodland habitats at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces small yellow flowers in compact clusters of 2 to 4 blooms. Growing with sprawling stems 10 to 40 centimeters long, it has a low-spreading growth habit with sparse hairs. Its compound leaves feature distinctive leaflets 1 to 2.5 centimeters long, each with a characteristic dark central spot and an obcordate (heart-shaped) form. The fruit develops as a loosely coiled spiral with curved, hooked prickles that turn tan to brown when mature.

Habitat: Disturbed and agricultural areas, fields, woodland

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoR, CaRF, n SN, ScV, CW

California counties: Napa, Contra Costa, Alameda, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Mendocino, Butte, Marin, San Francisco, Humboldt, San Diego, Del Norte, Yolo, Sutter, Tehama, Sacramento, San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, Placer, Yuba, Solano, Stanislaus, El Dorado, Santa Cruz, Monterey

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