Tomcat clover is one of our showiest native clover species. A tough hardy annual that is found from about Salem to Newport south to California. Its a common component of waste places and dry rocky environs. In poor soil it is a somewhat meager plant with just a little fertility its a completely different animal. To 12″ tall but usually half that this sparse but showy clover beckons pollinators when its pink to red and white delicate looking flowers that erupt into bloom in May-July. Very easy to grow in containers with other native annuals. This shares the fecund trait of other clovers and it will already have shed seed by the time you see it in bloom. Excellent forage for native bees- and purported to supply a tangy taste to Tomcat Clover Honey. Water plants from containers to establish, self sown plants get by on natural rainfall alone. Leave the plant well past bloom to shed the following years crop. Give it open disturbed spaces to self sow. The leaves are very much like a clover but the leaflets are a lot thinner. Also found on dry stream banks and with native clumping grasses. Full all day sun. Oregon native plant.
Genus: Trifolium
Trifolium wormskioldii
Springbank Clover. Fascinating perennial clover that was once widespread in wet areas of the Willamette Valley and is now found in restricted sites there but is much more prevalent on the coast and east of the Cascades. A pretty spreading spring wildflower with heads of brilliant magenta/purple flowers. Mainly in spring but also in summer if wet. To 4″ tall it can be up to 2′ wide in favorable conditions. Though mostly restricted to seeps and wet areas now it once made life under native white oaks and there indigenous people would use it as a food source. The creeping green stems root where they touch the ground. Stems were harvested and steamed as a vegetable and they replanted as they harvested the remaining stems ensuring another crop. Not a long lived perennial 3-5 years but it sets copious seed. Wet sites in moisture retentive soil. Mainly riparian in habitat. It can dry considerably in summer and still thrive. But regular water is what it wants. Fun plant to grow that has lost a LOT of its native range. In habitat it is best seen on the wet cliffs adjacent to the beach. Great pollinator plant. Easily overwhelmed by invasive exotics. Oregon native plant.