While visiting Point Reyes National Seashore, I noticed this cool flower. It is found in moist open habitats, from the edges of forests out into open meadows and wetlands. It occurs from coastal mountains to the bluffs overlooking the sea.
Native to coastal California, this ground-hugging member of the pea family forms an inch-tall mat and carpets the ground with color. It is a member of coastal grassland and prairie ecosystems.
Seaside Bird’s-foot Trefoil’s flower clusters are made up of several tiny flowers each about half an inch long. The flowers have a bright yellow banner, or upper petal and bright pink or white lower petals.
This plant is perennial, but is Winter dormant, so the aboveground parts die off each winter. As temperatures warm, underground rhizomes re-sprout and new plants spring to the surface.
Seaside Bird’s-foot Trefoil is a nectar source for Painted Lady butterflies and a variety of native bees and other insects.
This plant is also known as Harlequin Lotus, Witch’s Teeth, Harlequin Deer-vetch and Coast Lotus.