Trifolium fragiferum

Strawberry clover

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Strawberry clover is a naturalized perennial herb found in the North Coast Ranges, Sacramento Valley, South Coast Ranges, southwestern California, Modoc Plateau, White and Inyo Mountains, and other regions in roadsides and saline soils at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces pink flowers in dense, woolly heads 8 to 12 millimeters wide that expand to nearly 2 centimeters when fruiting. Growing as a creeping and rooting or tufted herb with glabrous stems, it spreads low to the ground. Its leaves have three leaflets 0.5 to 2 centimeters long, ranging from elliptic to obovate, with overlapping stipules and petioles much longer than the leaf blades. The distinctive fruiting heads become spherical and reddish-brown, with the calyx becoming inflated and hairy, creating a woolly appearance characteristic of this clover.

Habitat: Roadsides, generally in saline soil

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: NCoR, ScV, SCoR, SW, MP, W&ampI, expected elsewhere

California counties: Sonoma, Los Angeles, Inyo, San Diego, Yolo, Plumas, Stanislaus, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, Riverside, Modoc, Humboldt, Sacramento, Ventura, Contra Costa, San Bernardino, Solano, Santa Barbara, Colusa, Orange, El Dorado, Nevada, Marin, San Joaquin, Yuba, Butte, Sutter, Tehama, Glenn, Shasta, Siskiyou, Napa, Kern, Mendocino, San Mateo, Merced, Trinity, Amador, Madera, Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Lassen

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