Trifolium obtusiflorum

Clammy clover

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Native

Clammy clover is a California native annual herb found in northwestern and central California, central western California, southern California coastal areas, San Gabriel Mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in moist disturbed areas, gravel bars, and marshes at elevations of 30 to 1,800 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces pale lavender to dull purple flowers with white tips in dense heads 1.5 to 3 centimeters wide. Growing with erect, glandular-hairy stems that are generally sticky and robust, it has a distinctive appearance. Its leaves have 3 leaflets that are narrowly elliptic, 2 to 4 centimeters long, with sharply serrate edges and teeth approximately 1 millimeter long. The flower's calyx is 9 to 11 millimeters long and glandular-hairy, with bristle-tipped lobes that add to its unique texture.

Habitat: Moist disturbed areas, gravel bars, marshes

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 30-1800 m

Bioregions: NW, n&ampc SN, CW, SCo, SnGb, PR

California counties: Los Angeles, Tuolumne, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Fresno, Amador, Glenn, Tehama, Tulare, Mendocino, Madera, Mariposa, San Luis Obispo, Lake, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Stanislaus, Orange, Contra Costa, Napa, Colusa, El Dorado, Del Norte, Sonoma, Humboldt, Trinity, Nevada, Merced, Kings, Butte, Sutter, Plumas, Siskiyou, Alameda, Marin, Santa Clara, Calaveras, Solano, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Yuba, Placer, San Mateo

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