Trifolium depauperatum

Cowbag clover

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Native

Cowbag clover is a California native annual herb found in various bioregions, typically growing in grassland and open habitats. Flowering from March to June, this small clover produces delicate pink-purple flowers with white tips in compact head-like clusters approximately 0.5 to 1 centimeter wide. Growing with decumbent to erect stems, the plant reaches a generally small stature with thin, spreading growth. Its leaves feature three leaflets each 0.5 to 2 centimeters long, narrowly oblong to obovate, with truncate tips and occasionally toothed edges. The distinctive banner of its corolla becomes inflated in fruit, creating a unique profile for this diminutive clover.

California counties: Ventura, Butte, Amador, Calaveras, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, Tuolumne, Fresno, Placer, San Joaquin, Alameda, Lake, Tehama, Humboldt, Madera, Sonoma, Tulare, Riverside, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Shasta, San Diego, Solano, Yolo, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Clara, Colusa, Trinity, Sutter, Yuba, Monterey, San Bernardino, Kern, El Dorado, Merced, Stanislaus

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