Showy Indian Clover

Showy Indian clover is an annual flowering plant in the pea family that produces large, purple, white-tipped flowers from April to June. The species occurs as two phenotypes: an “erect” phenotype with flowers up to 27 inches in height and a “prostrate” phenotype with flowers less than a foot in height. The species is currently found in Dillon Beach and the Point Reyes National Seashore, both in Marin County, California

Showy Indian clover was first described by Edward L. Greene from specimens collected in 1890 near Vanden, Solano County, California. The range of the species was originally from Mendocino County south to Sonoma, Marin, Alameda, and Santa Clara Counties, and east to Napa and Solano Counties. The species previously occurred in a variety of habitats including low, wet swales, grasslands, and grassy hillsides up to 1,020 feet in elevation. It was considered extinct until 1993 when a single plant was discovered in Occidental, Sonoma County that is now extirpated. In 1996, the Dillon Beach population was discovered in Marin County, which was the only known population at the time of listing. The Service and its partners had since established a population at Point Reyes National Seashore as well as another at the Bodega Marine Reserve in Sonoma County that was extirpated by 2012. Only the Dillon Beach and Point Reyes National Seashore populations, both possessing the “prostrate” phenotype, are known to remain in the wild. 

Threats to the species include loss of habitat, coastal bluff erosion, encroachment by non-native invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.

Learn more about invasive species , and small population sizes causing low population resilience. Herbivory is thought to be both a threat and a benefit.