Springbank Clover

The Springbank Clover (Trifolium wormskioldii) is a sprawling native perennial clover of moist meadows and coastal marshes — bright magenta-pink flower heads over crisp, pointed trifoliate leaves — whose tender white rhizomes are a treasured root food of the Northwest Coast.^2, 4

Edible & Medicinal Uses

Beneath this clover run long, fleshy white rhizomes that are crisp, nutritious, and sweet — with a taste and texture much like Chinese bean sprouts. Traditionally they were steamed and served (often with oil), a valued and widely traded food. The trifoliate leaves and flowers are edible too, raw or cooked. As a legume, the plant also fixes nitrogen, quietly enriching the soil around it.^1, 4

Ornamental Qualities

Vigorous and pretty, Springbank Clover makes a low, spreading evergreen groundcover to about 4 in tall and a couple feet wide, studded with tufted magenta-purple flowers mainly in spring (and into summer where moist). Its creeping stems root as they go, quickly filling and greening moist ground — lovely as an edible groundcover and pollinator patch, and a classic companion to Pacific Silverweed.¹

Environment & Culture

Ecology: Native across the West, Springbank Clover grows in moist to wet open ground — estuaries, salt marshes, streambanks, and wet meadows — often in dense patches with Pacific silverweed. Its flowers feed pollinators, its roots fix nitrogen, and geese and waterfowl graze it.^1, 4

Culture: Springbank clover is a key "root" food of Northwest Coast peoples — including the Haida, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Coast Salish — grown in tended estuarine root gardens managed by dividing and replanting the rhizomes, and once widespread under the white oaks of the Willamette Valley. We offer it with respect for that living knowledge and invite support for Indigenous-led restoration through our Charitable Giving page.⁴

In the Kitchen

Lift a section of the fleshy white rhizomes, rinse well, and steam them until just tender — crisp, mild, and sweet like bean sprouts, they're lovely on their own with a little oil or added to a stir-fry. Toss the young leaves and pretty flowers into a salad. As you harvest, divide and replant rhizome pieces to keep the patch vigorous, the way these clover gardens were traditionally tended. (Growing and harvest details are on the Planting Guide tab.)

Attributes

• Native Range: Western N. America; moist meadows, estuaries, marshes¹
• USDA Zones: ~6–9³
• Light: Full sun to part shade¹
• Water: Moist to wet; tolerates seasonal flooding and some salt¹
• Soil: Moist, rich; estuarine and wet-meadow soils¹
• Habit: Spreading evergreen clover groundcover; roots as it creeps²
• Edible: Fleshy rhizomes (steamed, bean-sprout-like), leaves & flowers⁴

References

1. Native Foods Nursery field notes; Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team, Trifolium wormskioldii.
2. Pojar, J. & MacKinnon, A., Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, 2014.
3. USDA PLANTS Database, Trifolium wormskioldii.
4. Turner & Kuhnlein, "Two Important Root Foods of the NW Coast: Springbank Clover and Pacific Silverweed," 1982.

Pot Sizing Guide