Trifolium columbinum

Olive clover

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Native

Olive clover is a California native annual found in northern Coast Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, Central Valley, and San Francisco Bay Area in grassy slopes, valley meadows, and disturbed areas at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces distinctive two-colored flowers with purple and white petals in compact spikes 5 to 20 millimeters wide. Growing with ascending to erect hairy stems, it reaches modest heights with delicate branching. Its leaves have three leaflets, each 1 to 3 centimeters long, obovate in shape with fine serrated edges and lance-ovate stipules. The plant's flowers feature plumose calyces 8 to 14 millimeters long, significantly larger than the small 4 to 7 millimeter corolla.

Habitat: Grassy slopes, valley meadows, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, CaRF, n SNF, GV, SnFrB.

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