The Urban Pantheist

Photos by cottonmanifesto. This rabbitfoot clover's fur is a little damp in the rain.

Urban species #242: Rabbitfoot clover Trifolium arvense

There's something endearing about a plant that seems to be part mammal. (See also, pussy willow.) Anatomically speaking, the "fur" on the flower head of the rabbitfoot clover is a collection of sepals. On more familiar-looking flowers, the sepals are the green petal-like structures around the petals, but on this plant they are long, grayish pink, and feathery. It has the three-part leaflets common to clovers, though each leaflet is somewhat thinner than the round leaflets of white clover. It can be pollinated by bees, or it can simply pollinate itself. Rabbitfoot clover is native to Eurasia (where its English common name is usually "hare's foot clover") but has been introduced to North America and Australia. It is especially successful in disturbed areas, roadsides, and other urban areas.