Trifolium microcephalum

Common Names

Smallhead Clover, Small-headed Clover, Small-Head Clover, Maiden Clover, Littlehead Clover

Summary

Smallhead clover is an annual herb native to western North America, ranging from southern Alaska and British Columbia to California, Montana, Arizona, and Baja California. It grows as decumbent or erect, hairy stems with palmately compound leaves of three leaflets up to 2 cm long and notched tips. Its inflorescence is a dense bowl-shaped head of pinkish to purplish flowers set in a bowl-shaped involucre of wide, hairy bracts; the head is typically up to 1 cm wide, with calyx lobes narrowing into hairy bristles and a 4–7 mm corolla. Flowering occurs in spring, and insect pollinators including bees, butterflies, and moths visit the flowers.

Cultivation emphasizes full sun to partial shade with very low moisture. It tolerates poor soils and forms a nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with soil bacteria; leaves are edible raw or cooked. It is insect-pollinated and commonly used in bee gardens, found in rocky flats or slopes and ridges within suitable landscapes.

Lifecycle

Annual

Height

0.5-2.5 feet

Spread

4 inches-2.5 feet

Hardiness Zones

Zones not specified

Sunlight Requirements

Ideally full sun to partial shade.

Soil Type

Moist, well-drained circum-neutral (near-neutral) soil

Soil Drainage

Moist soils

Soil pH

Near-neutral pH; tolerates mildly acidic to mildly alkaline conditions.

Bloom Color

Pink

Bloom Time

Spring

Foliage Color

Green

Leaf Lifecycle

Deciduous

Growth Rate

Annual

Seasons of Interest

Spring and Summer

Propagation Methods

Seeds, Division

Attracts Wildlife

Attracts bees