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Pacific Northwest Owl's Clover

© Gregg Pasterick

And then there are the Owl's Clovers (Orthocarpus and a few Castellijas), another member of the Snapdragon Clan (Scrophulariaceae), close cousins of paintbrushes. Like the paintbrushes, the showy parts of the flowers are the usually colorful petal-like bracts. The flowers themselves are mostly hidden in among the gaudy swell of color.

There are only about ten species of Owl's Clover, and all of them are in western North America. Like so many of their clan, Owl's Clovers are parasites, taking nourishment from the roots of other, unsuspecting plants. The origin of its common name is lost to the mists of time. It could be it refers to the eye-like spots on the petals of some species.

In California, Purple Owl's Clover (C. exserta) was gloriously abundant in some places. The Owl's Clovers I've encountered in Washington and Oregon have been few and far between. Well, not few so much as not nearly so numerous, but definitely far.

The first one I found was along the shoreline of Willapa Bay, as I was returning from harvesting oysters in our oyster beds. It looked like a small whitish-yellow paintbrush, and I was pretty darn excited about it. It turned out to be Paintbrush Owl's Clover (O. castillejoides), a smallish species found in salty, marshy areas. I was hoping it was something rare, but it wasn't.

The next Owl's Clover was in the wet meadows of Willow Creek, near Eugene, Oregon. It was Rosy Owl's Clover (O. bracteosus), a much showier species than Paintbrush Owl's Clover with its velvety-looking rose-colored flowers. (Rose-colored glasses not required!)

The third species I found was Mountain Owl's Clover (O. imbricatus) up on Hurricane Ridge, in Olympic National Park. Like the previous species, it is a smallish plant, getting only about eight inches tall. It has purplish-pink flowers, and grows in mid- to high-elevations in the Olympic and Cascade Mountains on rocky slopes and outcrops with thin soil, and in dry meadows.

Those are the only three I've found so far, but there are others. Copeland's Owl's Clover (O. copelandii) and Dwarf Owl's Clover (O. pusillus) are two species with pink to purplish-red flowers. Bearded Owl's Clover (O. barbatus), Yellow Owl's Clover (O. luteusw), Field Owl's Clover (O. campestris), Cream Sacs (O. lithospermoides), Hairy Owl's Clover (O. hispidus), Butter and Eggs (O. erianthus), and Narrow-leaved Owl's Clover (O. attenuatus) are all species with yellow to white flowers. Most of them are not strictly Pacific Northwest species, growing as far south as California, but that only increases my chances of finding them all someday.