Triphysaria pusilla

Dwarf owl's clover

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: annual · Native

Dwarf owl's clover is a California native annual found in northwestern California, the Great Valley, Sierra Nevada foothills, and central western California in grassland habitats at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering from April to June, this delicate plant produces small flowers with purple and yellow coloration, approximately 4 to 7 millimeters long with a distinctive hooked beak. Growing 5 to 20 centimeters tall with decumbent-branched stems that spread finely from the base, it has a somewhat obscure main axis covered in yellow-brown or purplish hairs. Its leaves range from 5 to 30 millimeters long with 3 to 9 distinctive lobes, creating a delicate and intricate foliage pattern. The fruit is round and compressed, containing 20 to 30 dark brown seeds.

Habitat: Grassland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: NW, GV, SNF, CW

California counties: Humboldt, Contra Costa, Monterey, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, El Dorado, Placer, Sonoma, Yuba, Santa Barbara, Napa, Marin, Tehama, Solano, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Nevada, Alameda, Butte, Mendocino, Trinity, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Fresno, Del Norte, Stanislaus, San Francisco, Mariposa, Lake, Colusa, Amador

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