Trifolium macraei

Macrae's clover, Macrae's Clover

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Native

Macrae's clover is a California native annual found in coastal bioregions including North Coast, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay, and Channel Islands in disturbed areas and dunes at elevations below 600 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces purple or two-colored flowers in compact heads 5 to 15 millimeters wide. Growing with decumbent to erect stems, it develops delicate branching structures that spread low across the ground. Its leaves feature three leaflets 1 to 2 centimeters long, with distinctively ovate or narrowly elliptic shapes and stipules that taper to bristle-like tips. The plant's flower clusters are typically paired and nestled close to its leaves, with hairy calyces that have elongated, plume-like lobes.

Habitat: Disturbed areas, dunes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 600 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRO, CCo, SnFrB, ChI

California counties: Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Mateo, Monterey, Humboldt, San Francisco, Marin, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Del Norte, Alameda, Contra Costa, Placer, Santa Cruz, Mendocino, Orange

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